


Believe Me, I'm Lying

by orphan_account



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Friendship, High School, Humour, Multi, Romance, Romeo & Juliet - Freeform, Shakespeare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:31:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 31,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roxas is a compulsive liar, but little by little she chips at his façade to reveal the real him under his cobweb of lies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Honestly

The invention of lying, with absolutely no reference to that crap-tastical movie, would have been the best god-damned thing that was ever invented. Because no one ever liked spilling their guts, their _actual_ opinions for they would have been judged yeah? Honesty is over rated, as much so as the purity of ... let say marriage, that is the simplicity of things. So instead of grinning and bearing it, figuring out your words in the nicest possible way instead of crushing their stupid little dreams, and telling it like it is; Roxas Hikari learnt to lie.

When the stream of little white's weren't swimming through his lips, they were sewn shut as he let his eyes convey the only messages that were absolutely necessary: leave me the fuck alone. Because whenever he spoke something horrible came out, something that was never the exact truth, and as far as he was concerned he was going to keep it that way, because no one ever wanted to see what was on the inside, as long as the outside was gorgeous, pure, untainted and appeasing to the eye then he was set. No one knew the true Roxas Hikari, and that was the way he was going to keep it, because no one liked to see the ugly hidden behind something beautiful.

**_Believe me, I'm lying_ **

Honestly

Well that had all been until the one faithful day when Roxas was bored, and his nanny was napping, and his mother was shopping, and his father was off on some retarded business trip. So the six year old stumbled clumsily from his porch steps to climb the tree he had always wanted to in his backyard. He'd seen the little boy with silver hair across the road doing it so he could too, besides, back then it was stupid to look like you couldn't do something because you were too thin, thick, short or tall, what the end result was is the most important, and the damned determined child wanted to climb the god-damned tree.

So after a several bruises, some in which the blonde didn't want to name, he nearly cried out in pain when a twig stabbed him in the back and he slipped from the tree appendage he was on to land with a _thump_ on the ground. He looked up, and suddenly that stupid little tree in his huge back yard had suddenly become to top of Mt. Everest, a stupid mountain, with its stupid branches, and the stupid leaves that cast the outline of green shadows on his lithe little form. He felt like crying, but the stinging behind his eyes that led to small pools of water never breached the containment of his eyelashes and he sniffed and wiped them away. Only for the sob he was strangling down his throat to break out from his weak little chest as a stab of pain hit him square on the head.

There was a scuffling and a brief feminine little grunt before he shot his head up to see a white clad little blonde girl sitting on the white fence. Skinny legs dangled from the top of the fence, regarding him from wide deep blue eyes under wisps of white blonde hair. Her skin was fair, and it was almost hard to tell where her skin stopped and the edge of her frilly white dress began. She was laughing, a dainty little hand over her lips as her eyes danced with merriment.

_How long has she been here? Is she laughing at me?_

Roxas couldn't help feeling self conscious as he continued his stare fest at the intruder (well not technically) that was staring back from the edge of his fence. The look she gave him was almost malicious, and Roxas, being a six year old, didn't understand what the word meant, but knew the feeling all too well. His skin chilled before he felt the feeling of being judged creep up his spine and spread to the fingertips that gripped the tree branch that had hit his head.

"What do you want?" he growled, and he _knew_ he looked more menacing than a six year old, he had practiced in the mirror, naive little one that he was.

"To watch, seeing you climb the tree is funny."

He did the only thing that crossed his mind, and being the immature little boy that he was, he stuck his tongue out. Wiggling it a few times for extra show before he lazily chucked the small tree branch at her. She caught it with ease and dropped it before her, so it landed on the grass beneath her shadow.

"I've climbed it before, it's just too hot out," he declared with vigour, embarrassed that his voice shook as he crossed his arms.

"Liar," she mocked in a sing song voice. It thoroughly pissed the little boy off.

"I _have_ climbed it, but I bruised my ankle the last time, and it's hard to do it again," he defended, finding the girls talent at perception rather unnerving. Roxas had been the perfect little liar ever since birth, and now this stupid little girl from next door was seeing through him like there was a bloody window on his forehead. He didn't like her; he wasn't even supposed to be talking to her. Not only was she a stranger (stranger danger kiddies) but his mother had told him not to make contact with her family, _her_ in particular.

"Liar," she sung it even louder this time, making the blonde clench his fist and snarl "You probably saw Riku from across the street climbing the tree didn't you?"

"N-no."

"And you said 'If he can do it, so can I' right?"

"No!"

"You like to lie a lot don't you?" she cocked her head to the side, her short blond bangs cascading down her shoulder in a golden waterfall.

"Leave me alone," he growled.

"My name's Naminé," she stated, randomly and out of the blue. It's not like he asked for her name, hell he didn't want to know, she was annoying.

"My name's... Ventus."

"Liar!" she sang again, and it was really getting on his nerves. That this girl could see through him like his parents never could, and that she could guess his motives, hell, even his answers before he could, and he didn't even know her.

"Fine, fine, my name's Rox."

"Can I ask if you're telling the truth?" she murmured from the edge of the fence, wide blue eyes full of curiosity.

He chuckled lightly before answering "Believe me, I'm lying."


	2. Forbidden

He had always been the stupidest kid she knew, scratch that, he was actually one of the smartest. Not the smartest as in, academically, he was much too concerned with other, more interesting matters than that, no, she meant manipulative wise. Roxas Strife was one of the most fascinating specimens she had ever encountered, and from the moment she met him she was determined to break him out of his self harming shell, not realising that it would be harder than she had ever realised. No. She understood the reasons that he lied, because once upon a time, she had faced the same problems, there were girls that believed that they were so much better than her because they could weave up a sweet little lie or two, but she realised that the best way to get to those girls was not through an impressive lie; but what was reality. So Naminé began to tell the cold hard truth.

**Believe me, I'm lying**

Forbidden

She was quick in her footsteps as she pranced around the walls of his garden, slipping under a branch and filching at the slightest crinkle of leaves the thin trainers on her feet seemed to create. She straightened her back against the sandstone walls, shivering at how cold the cement on her bare shoulders. It sent a wave of chills through her small frame. She let out a small exhale of breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.

_Creaaaaaakkk_

_Shit! Did someone hear me?_

This had to be a little short of illegal. She was sneaking into this house, without the consent of anyone in the residence, actually she had something like consent. Could it even be called that?

_"Sneak into my house undetected, then I will tell you more about me."_

Stupid, stupid cocky Roxas. The unfortunate thing was; ever since she had mocked him for being unable to climb a tree back when she was six and he was seven, was that he had taken free running lessons and he had become a hell of a lot better at sneaking up on her, and so, deciding to use this as some sick advantage he had begun to want to meet her further into the confines of his home, where anyone with the last name 'Fleuret' was strictly forbidden, namely her. But that didn't affect his ability to lie to her face, a problem that he still had to this day.

She tried to press herself up against the wall more forcefully, willing her body to meld with the matter beneath her, to make her invisible from prying eyes as footsteps gradually came closer. She shifted her head ever so lightly, soft green leaves gliding across her forehead in the process as, from the corner of her eye, she spied the gate, her way to freedom.

 _Can I make a break for it?_ she asked herself, knowing full well she couldn't without the mysterious footsteps behind her, coming closer and closer. She'd be in trouble now.

If only Roxas wasn't a Strife, if only she wasn't a Fleuret.

Her heartbeat quickened as a shoe was visible around the corner, a second later and they would spy her, laugh at her, and then shoot her. And this was all because of some stupid, idiotic and senseless little dare. Why did she ever think that cracking through the shell of Roxas Strife's exterior was more exciting than anything else her rich girl's life could offer? She had chosen to become the blonde boy's friend (however that miracle had ever happened) and in the end it had gotten her killed, and she couldn't even gloat that she had nearly made it to his window without getting noticed.

She clenched her eyes shut, preparing for a shot gun to her head, or something of that nature. She remembered Roxas' words of warning, wishing that she had acknowledged them.

" _If an intruder is found in my household, they would die."_

And she believed him because his face didn't show the regular signs of lying that she knew him for. His fingers didn't flinch, his muscles didn't tense, his voice didn't rise, he didn't blink unnecessarily, and he stared her right in the eyes. Every time Roxas lied, people seemed to miss small traits like this, because she would admit he was harder to read than everyone else. That made it all the more regretful that she didn't want to listen to some of the only truths that had ever passed his devious tongue.

She waited for the pain, but instead of a bullet to the head, she received the soft grip of a larger hand on her arm, and the harsh whisper, "Quick, if you get out of here now, you can still escape alive."

And that when she turned to notice the bright gleam in his normally glassy azure eyes. That was how she knew he was lying this time.

"Alright, you're not funny Roxas," she said, prying his warm hand from her goose pimpled arm. It really was cold out.

"You almost got me, too bad you have the presence of a dying cow," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. This stupid, stupid boy. And he should have been smarter for a fourteen year old. She combed her thin fingers between her locks for a moment, trying to pick out the random leaves that had gotten stuck in her curls from hiding in that god forsaken bush.

"Well this was one of the safest things you have ever done," if he wasn't good at lying, he was good at being sarcastic, "Seriously Nami, are you suicidal?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was?"

"Yes?" he asked, questionable. He really was a strange one. He shook his head, "You were caught, you loose."

She rolled her eyes _again,_ this was her way of dismissing everything he was saying, "So how about the end of vacation? Looking forward to that?" she asked.

"If by the end of vacation, you mean leaving my parents? Then... maybe."

It might have been her mind trying to trick her, but she thought that Roxas had just told a partial truth. She had known him a little more than eight years; their families had been neighbours and enemies since they were little and their freaky little friendship was forbidden in their eyes, making it all the more interesting to keep the other in their lives. It was strange, but she was sure she had gotten him to tell a little more truth now, which was actually a huge achievement.

"I can't wait to come back to my apartment."

"But I can wait for school," Roxas moaned.

"C'mon Rox, who doesn't love," cue Naminé's dramatic screenplay voice, "Destiny Islands Academy of the Creative Arts?"

Roxas smirked as he answered "I do."


	3. Trouble

The day was fine, finer than fine. The birds were chirping, the dew dripping off the leaves reflected the quality of diamonds, and the sky was the prettiest catch-your-breath blue anyone had ever seen. And there was only one thing that made this perfect day the worst nightmare that anyone had ever imagined, that's right, a bloodied, rusted spear through the heart of this morning, and do you know what it is? That's right; it's the first day of school.

But this thought did not occur to Naminé as she repeatedly hit the snooze button of her alarm clock; settling into sun-warmed silk sheets and pretending that time would not fray the edges of her fragile dreams. Technically time could not, but her best friend could.

But she tried to ignore that fact as she sighed into the soft caress of fingertips along her arm, trailing up to lightly trace her shoulder before they became tangled in her soft tresses of silky blonde hair. It was light and airy, a feather touch while a smile graced her lips and she leaned further into the cotton soft pillows. The feather fingers travelled along her neck, skimming across shoulder blades until.

Yank.

And then the toasty warm blankets were gone and she was screaming as Roxas, laughing like a madman, ran away from an infuriated Naminé, who was going to serve his penalty for removing her blankets.

**_Believe me, I'm lying_ **

Trouble

Waking up Naminé was a regular occurrence for Roxas, almost like a chore that he wanted to do. She was a heavy sleeper and he was an early riser, perfect combination. She seemed so at ease whenever he woke her up at that was almost becoming hard to tear her from her dreams, but the last time he _did_ let her sleep in he had received a right earful from her, so a repeat performance was nowhere in the near future. They were best friends, so access into each others apartments was second nature to both of them, they both carried each others keys, and they both knew where the extra spare key was, plus the fact that they had both learnt how to pick locks last year, when they were both fifteen. Therefore, it was normal to have Roxas sneak into her apartment and wake her up in the mornings, sometimes dawn if he felt like it (which wasn't that often, because even Roxie needed his sleep.)

That morning he had prepared a hearty breakfast of... Fruit Loops cereal. He was too lazy to prepare anything else. And since Naminé seemed content in moving through her morning routine at a snail's pace, he decided that a little excitement to spice up his morning was necessary, and what better way to do that than irritating the living shit out of his enemy Seifer?

"Nam, I'm going to make Seifer cry, see you at school," he replied from the door as he trekked out.

"Send my regards," she replied.

* * *

If he couldn't lie to the conniving little blonde he called his best friend, then he could to everyone else, and that included the store attendants at the two dollar shop, the schafer for Seifer's car and the cronies guarding it into abandoning his poor little Mercedes to Roxas' wrath.

Moments before he was finished spray painting the red paint of Seifer's treasured convertible with glitter paint (to add that extra sparkle) he was spotted by some of the most idiotic henchmen Roxas has ever encountered. But unluckily, they got the gist of what was happening to their ring leader's car and ran after him. At the moment it didn't matter that he was probably going to have to figure out some fantastical lie to cover up what he had done to the automobile, all that did was that he was smiling and that Seifer was probably going to look pathetic for it.

He hopped over a brick wall, cursing the sharp pencils at the bottom of his back pack as they dug into his side while the pack swung from side to side, while he ran and ran. They almost lost him in the crowd of Destiny Academy students that clambered for space and the sight of their friends, but managed to keep an eye on him because of the slight amount of glitter that sparkled in his hair. He panicked when he was at the other end of the crowd, but still hadn't managed to shake them loose. However thrilling this was, it was starting to get scary. And Roxas knew scary, he had been involved in too many rough dealings to avoid the bad and the ugly. He knew he shouldn't have been involving himself in this kind of problem so early in the morning, so early in the _year_ in fact, he wasn't even in homeroom yet and he was already starting to cause problems. Nami would have been proud of him.

He didn't notice as he passed an alleyway in his futile attempts to escape the parade of hooligans on his tail, until he was yanked from the street and a soft delicate little hand squirmed to cover his mouth. He relaxed into the touch, watching from behind the dumpster, which he now realised was behind the art wing of Destiny Academy, Seifer's cronies passing the narrow entranceway without a second glance.

When he was absolutely sure that no one was following him anymore he pried his saviour's hands from his mouth, tracing his eyes up a slim arm, covered by the loose fabric of a grey hoodie that went over a school shirt, hiding a tangled little necklace of black velvet and silver chain to the face of his unimpressed best friend.

"You could have carried out the prank without making Seifer aware of your presence," Naminé rolled her pretty blue eyes. Roxas only smirked, he knew that he could do that, but he wanted to see the look on Seifer's face when he'd ruined his baby immediately. Naminé seemed to understand this and return his devious smile.

"C'mon, we have to head to the office."

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because-"

" _Naminé Fleuret and Roxas Strife, please report to the principles office, if on school grounds."_

"-that's why"

"How did you know?" he asked her.

"I have my sources," she laughed at his bewildered face as they walked into the sun.


	4. Friendship & Fueds

Me, Nam and Axel, we are the debonair trio. Like the freaking Ferrero Rochers that Naminé likes so much we are all the same, though we might be a little bumpy on the outside, we were better within. It's just with me, my beautiful insides are way way way deeper than the other two. Like ... you-have-to-dig-to-the-middle-of-the-earth deep, and no one would ever really be bothered, except for a few choice friends, including Axel and Naminé, to try and find what I hide beneath my 24/7 mask. You, dear reader, have already heard of the flawless way in which I met Naminé for the first time. Worst choice _ever_ for a friend, best fucking decision I have ever made. Axel's family relations are on better terms with my parents, therefore making him the first kid that ever went over to my house to play (Naminé doesn't count, she had to break in), and apparently I was his first too, since all the other kids were afraid to _approach_ him, let alone find the sweet chocolaty gooey centre inside.

**_Believe me, I'm lying_ **

Friendships and Fueds

This is actually way of topic, and I shouldn't be thinking this while Naminé is dragging me to the principle's office but it's better you know him before you make presumptions about his first appearance, isn't that right? Well it doesn't matter because I'm going to explain anyway.

Axel Sinclair, like the majority of the spoilt little rich kids that attend Destiny Academy of the Creative Arts is heir to some kind of family dynasty; his just happens to be actors. And since we're all good at lying, or telling it how it is, or delivering _some_ kind of information either in the most _positive_ or _negative_ way possible, we all just clicked and became the best of friends.

Ha ha no. It was not that simple.

There were times when Naminé was unavailable (her parents wanted her to be more social so; ballet classes, art classes, instrumental classes and all that shiz) and whenever I didn't have arrangements of my own then I was bored as hell. So one day I'm lazing around in my backyard waiting for three o'clock to roll around this nice summer day and I hear the music of the ice cream truck. Being the idiotic fourteen year old that I was I forgot the large assortment of the frozen treat in my fridge and leapt over the fence (to which the key is inside somewhere lost in my room) and darted my eyes across the street to see no ice cream truck, but a red headed boy approx. Fifteen years old with a phone in his hand, laughing his ass off while pointing to me. Blood rushed to my cheeks at the embarrassment this idiot had pulled me through, the ice cream music was coming from his phone. I drag my hand down my face, I really could do with some ice cream, and I'm about to wander inside when some animalistic instinct told me to survey my surroundings. Good choice, because I notice the kid follows my eyes directions to see the moving van behind him. So, curiosity kill me because I'm a bloody-stupid-cat, I walk up to the end of my drive and yell at him. It's not so much of a yell, as a loud comment, one that wouldn't be appreciative of a regular classroom "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"What you mean like, wait for the ice cream truck?"

I growled, "I happen to know the ice cream man."

_It's a lie but he doesn't have to know that._

"Well good for you sweet cheeks, but seeing you bolting for the truck has got to be the funniest things I have seen in a long time."

_Sweet cheeks? Who does this guy think he is?_

"Idiot," I growled, I couldn't help myself.

For some insane reason, the guy starts laughing. Don't ask me to explain a psyche like that.

"Hey, if you're that disappointed then come over to my house, I have this fierce new flavour."

"What's it?"

"Sea-Salt."

I couldn't help it; I stuck out my tongue, disgusted. But it was strange, he had such a warm and welcoming presence that I didn't feel the _need_ to put on a facade.

I watched as he ran a hand through his mane of red spikes, his green eyes glittered, reflecting the sun at his fucking brightest. I had to admit I was a little curious, ever since my cousin Sora had experimented with making Ice Creams last summer ((Maple syrup flavour) Actually successful) I'd been game for anything new and interesting. This guy must have read my mood change or something (which was strange because the only person that had ever tried to pry into my psyche before was Naminé) because he smirked and let out another boisterous laugh "Trying it won't hurt right?"

I shrugged, I was bored and craving some ice cream, this guy was offering and didn't know how much of a jerk wad I was "Kay."

"I'm Axel Sinclair, got it memorized?"

"I'm... " for a second I thought about saying Ventus' name, my twin was off at a soccer game, but I decided I wanted to be friends with this guy instead of treating him like the rest of the population and pushing him away. He was interesting, and since he could read me, it's not like I could hide from him, why try? "I'm Roxas Hikari."

Later that evening after I had found out Axel was attending Destiny Islands Academy of the Creative Arts, Naminé called because she had returned from her ballet lesson and I asked Axel if she could join the video game/nibbles mini party we were having. He was eager for new friends and agreed. She was polite at first, but she and Axel had this kind of insults-are-the-way-I-show-affection gene and before I understood anything they were swearing their heads off at each other and he was calling her 'barbie' and she was called him 'firecracker' and that was how our friendship began.

So for three or something years we've been inseparable, and our random acts of insanity were the norm at DIACA (Destiny Islands Academy of the Creative Arts) with Axel; the dare devil, Naminé; the mind reader, and me; (According to Ax and Nam) the charmer.

It wasn't something irregular for Axel to meet up with us right before we reached the office, trailing beside Naminé as he questioned what we had done to get in trouble so easily.

"Roxas glitter painted Seifer's car," Naminé replied bluntly.

"What? Seriously?" Axel raised his hand and I slapped it back in an enthusiastic high-five.

"Douche bags, that doesn't explain why I'm involved," the small blonde girl between us snarled.

"Knowing you, you probably helped him escape."

"Worst mistake ever," she laughed, slipping of her grey hoodie and shoving it in her satchel.

"Well now you'll know better," I reply.

"That next time, if you're going to get in trouble, at least involve yourself in some of the action," Axel scolded her. "How did Seifer take it?"

"How do you think? Like a guy on his man period," I smirked, sweeping some of the strands of hair from my eyes.

"Well, good luck with Mansex, I hear he's on the look out for the person (ie. Me) vandalising cars, so work on a good alibi that someone like Riku can back up."

"That stoic babe never lies," Naminé replied in a joking manner. She had had a crush on him for the last year or something, I think she's getting over him but she swoons about him every so often.

"Yeah, we don't want to know about how you eye-rape him every English lesson, c'mon," I grab her wrist and threw open the secretary's door.

"See you two later."

Simultaneously we reply we a 'Bye Ax' before we wander into Satan's den. Satan because he's one of those principles that ask a lot of rhetorical questions, and real questions and often you can't tell the fucking difference. So I'll skip everything about how he made us uncomfortable, and how he examined how both of seemed to have split personalities during class and despite that we're some of the most popular people in the social ladder and we've been voted head girl and boy and-

Shit.

Rewind.

Did he just say what I think he did?

Did he just say we've been assigned the jobs from hell?

Oh fuck me.

With a fork, a chopstick, a large pointy stick.

Just anything but this.

When we relayed the message to Axel he laughed, and laughed and laughed and laughed. Oh ha ha, very funny you god damned pyromaniac, what about our predicaments dammit?

"You wanna ask my advice?"

"No!" we both answer at the same time, Naminé seems as distressed by this as I am. I can understand why. You see DIACA is split into three house groups, Kingdom=Blue, Oblivion=Black, and Oathkeeper=White. Oathkeeper and Oblivion are the most competitive houses and everyone takes this seriously, another unspoke feud that has been going on since DIACA was created. I'm in Oblivion, now the head, and Naminé belongs to Oathkeeper. This was going to start some serious controversy all over the school, as if our parents hating each other wasn't enough.

"You can try and end the feud between both of the houses," he suggested.

"You're speaking about a miracle," I sighed, Axel and his stupid ideas.

"Actually, that sounds really interesting," Naminé commented. Oh no, I know that look in her eyes, and it isn't a good one. Naminé never started something unless she wanted to finish it, and she was determined to finish everything "I have a plan, trust me Rox, this is going to be fun."

And so began Roxas and Naminé's school year, dealing with interconnected feuds between their school, their friends and their families.

_It's going to be one fan-fucking-tastic year._


	5. Starting

"Bull-fucking horse shit!"

Naminé rolled her eyes while Roxas stamped his foot on the ground, it's lucky no one else was behind the stage of the auditorium because he would have started freaking out. He understood that he was being childish and Naminé was just being herself, level headed and waiting for the anger to implode in one giant bitch fit. He would _not_ be around when that happened, at the moment he had to focus on surviving his own.

"Now isn't time to be quoting Left 4 Dead."

**_Believe me, I'm lying_ **

Starting

"Yes it is! How could the bastard do this? I fucking hate public speeches, and he hasn't given us time to prepare anything!" his blue eyes burned as he turned to her. She simply shrugged, the principle _was_ a bastard, but he had never gone to such lengths as to make students uncomfortable.

"God damned Mansex, he can go die in a hole that stupid Motherfu-"

"Roxas! Naminé," one of the stage crew, and that was a guy by the name of Tidus called, walking in as Roxas barely composed himself.

"Hello Tidus," Naminé put on a sugary sweet smile, in retaliation, the other blonde boy curved his lips up for a moment before frowning.

"I'm sorry the principle did this for you guys, I quickly wrote down all the pointers you have to announce."

"Thanks, Hun," Naminé patted him on the shoulder as she pried the notes from his hands and Roxas looked over the paper as her eyes scanned the messy but legible writing. "This'll work, use some of that false charisma, a flashy smile, and we'll be fine," she tousled Roxas' hair, something that he growled at but never the less put up with, because this was Naminé and she would have her way sooner or later.

Outside the stage of the auditorium were around 600+ students waiting for this stupid ceremony to be over, Roxas and Naminé included. They all wanted to go to their lockers to find out what the school had left them, but she'd explain that later.

Abruptly and very ungracefully they were both pushed onto the stage, not at all embarrassed by the eyes on them because they knew practically everyone there. What she worried about was getting the notes in the right order, while Roxas' outer persona handled the rest. Roxas was a completely different person when he was set into all-lies mode. A charming smile and guarded eyes was normally what it compromised off, girls fell head over heels and guys wished they could pull of that suave attitude. Personally she didn't like it that much, but in situations like this, it got the job done.

"Gooood morning DIA," Roxas strutted up to the podium and announced it in a low drawl, pulling the mouth piece of the attached microphone higher so he got more sound; crossing his arms over the wood to lean on it a little while Naminé approached him with the notes.

"So, me, Roxas Strife, and my sidekick Naminé Fleuret-" Naminé gained laughs for kicking Roxas in the shin, "have just been elected your school representatives."

There was a loud cheer from the entire school, well ... there were some 'boo's' but they were from people whose car was recently vandalised, so it didn't count.

Naminé gained more laughs for pushing Roxas off the stadium and pulling the mouth piece down so that she could talk, "Alright, now as we begin all the school years, a silent moment of respect for the great Ansem the Wise, our founder," there was a silent moment, then Naminé smirked, "and now our job's done," she laughed, trying to haul Roxas off stage, earning more laughs.

Roxas instead hopped up to the podium and put on his serious face, "But seriously we've got some things to address the school about, completely serious matters that require your complete concentration." Naminé banged her head against the podium and Roxas flicked her head, earning more laughs, "Lesse, okies, in the next three months we'll be holding a lot of events for charities and school advertisement, plus the assertion of our school spirit yeah?"

There were no laughs for that one, Naminé flipped through the palm cards and threw one onto the podium for Roxas to read, "Alright, the first thing to look forward to will be the annual School Sports Week," You could have counted how many people cheered with one hand, "C'mon, it's not going to be that bad! And winning house this year get's an awesome prize-"

"Which _we_ get to decide!" Naminé declared into the mic before hopping down.

"Yeah, as Fleuret stated, there are many reason for you to show you're school spirit you know?"

"The teachers will give detentions to anyone who isn't being enthusiastic," Naminé whispered to Roxas, just close enough to the mic so that everyone else could hear and they earned another laugh.

"To bad Oblivion is going to win anyway," he flipped his hand to the crowd in a playfully gay way, which caused an uproar among the students. Suddenly they were all rowdy and annoying and yelling the various house names.

"Kingdom!"

"Oathkeeper!"

"Oblivion!"

They both gave a small chuckle into the microphone before the students settled down and they started reading the rest of the notes, "Some other things to look forward to," Naminé read, "is the new PE sports selection program, where every Thursday, instead of the year coordinators handling your sports, you fill in a form, and bam! You get to go to the sport of your choice for the next ten weeks, so choose wisely," she winked to the audience before handling the notes over to Roxas again.

"Remember the winning house for the cup gets the major prize of going to Twilight Town resort for an entire week at the end of the year while the other teams will have to clean the school and handle the end of the year charity drive."

The charity drive sucked, but that's another story.

"The main focus at the moment is The School Festival, which is mainly more charity work and less studying!" there was a round of applause for them and they got off the stage. Suckiest speech ever, but they had gotten a few cheap laughs. As the school dismissed themselves and went of to enjoy the last ten minutes of freedom to look over their new lockers before homeroom, Naminé and Roxas fought to find their lockers, while Roxas tried to find the kid that was right next to Nam's locker, so he could bribe to swap their places. This was a regular thing that happened at the beginning of the year, Roxas arrived at her locker, slammed the sticker with his name tag on it while the enveloped flapped from his mouth, his arms full of an assortment of books that should be in his chequered satchel.

Destiny Islands Academy of the Creative Arts for sophomores worked like this. You had your regular classes; English, Science, Math and plus two electives, one major and one backup, which were in Naminé's case; Visual Arts and Music. Roxas' were Music and Dance. Axel's were Drama and Visual Arts.

But there was a special program that had only introduced the year right before her year was enrolled, and that was the school choice elective. This was an extra course the school deemed would expand your horizons and therefore, made it another compulsory subject, but it only affected juniors, so her grade was very excited to be receiving their first compulsory subject. Well something like that, Naminé didn't care.

She slipped her fingernail underneath the envelopes flap and ripped it to shreds. They normally delivered notes through the lockers.

_To_ **Naminé Fleuret**

_Congratulations on your achievements up to 10th Grade and we are happy to announce that your school choice elective is_

**Drama**

_Good luck in the new year_

_Destiny Islands Academy of the Creative Arts_

_Drama ... DRAMA!_

Naminé ran a hand through her bangs, what was she supposed to make of this? She guessed she should be glad, because she was going to spend her extra classes with Axel, and she should be grateful for that. But she just didn't like acting, they had done a small unit on it in primary school and she had gotten the most severe case of stage fright she puked. Yeah. Bad memories.

There was one other good thing that came out of this though. Roxas turned his note around at the exact same time as her, and she sighed when she read his compulsory elective too; Drama.

"Brilliant," they exclaimed at the same time.


	6. Reluctant Romeo

The two blondes sauntered down the hallway to homeroom, which was room 13, which was in the art block. Naminé loved this room, it was so messy and the designs on the walls were so fresh and original and lively with colour, it had her fingers itching for the sketchbook in her satchel, but she restrained herself, Roxas wasn't happy with the elective at all and desperately wanted something else, anything else.

"Rox, it isn't that bad, I mean, we have more classes with Axel," Naminé murmured, rubbing the boys back as they sat themselves on the art stools inside their homeroom.

"Isn't the point, didn't you heard Axel at all last year? The teachers a pedo or something, freakin creepy."

"Marluxia? Nah, he's just flamboyant."

"Gay," Roxas corrected, narrowing his eyes. She didn't have the will to continue, so she just agreed with him. She had to contemplate her own feelings towards her new elective, because instead of participating in a homeroom like the grades before them, you had to participate in your new elective class, so they would probably be doing a play for the festival. Maybe she could score something on the back stage crew?

**_Believe me, Im lying_ **

Reluctant Romeo

She was stuck in her thoughts until she heard distant yelling behind them, and Roxas turned, so she soon followed to find the voices belonged to Kairi and Sora. Sora and Roxas's parents were tight and Kairi was Naminé's friend through Axel, who was a distant relative. They were dating, or something like it. They were a strange hyperactive couple.

Sora's major elective was Dance, of the hip-hop variety, and Kairi was the same, but with contemporary. They seemed awfully cheerful when they entered the classroom, and she was almost scared to ask why. But then again, that was how they usually acted.

"Hiya Roxas! Nami!" they both chanted at the same time.

"Hiya Sora! Kairi!" Naminé mimicked, making Kairi stick out her tongue, flipping a lock of auburn hair from her eyes.

"What did you guys think of electives?" Sora asked, plopping himself down across from them.

Roxas groaned and slammed his head on the table, Naminé shrugged.

"Drama," she stretched the word, it rolled of her tongue uncomfortably.

"What's so wrong about that Rox?" Kairi asked, tilting her head.

"He's scared of Marly," Sora quipped, snickering a little bit.

"You've given _it_ a name?" Roxas growled.

"He can't be that bad, he's just a little..." Kairi began.

"Child molester," Roxas supplied.

"He had a bad experience with him in year seven," Sora grinned, "that he doesn't want you to know about," he turned to both of the girls, now they were both insanely curious.

Luckily Roxas, lucky bastard, was saved by the homeroom teacher. He was a quiet hulk of a man whose first name was Lexaeus, and allowed his students to call him that. He did role call and just sat there until the bell rang, allowing the students to do whatever they wanted. She rather liked this teacher.

Next up was Naminé's new compulsory elective, and she was getting creeped out. What if she absolutely _hated_ his topic? Well there was nothing to do but grin and bear it right? No complaints, this was like math, or science, or some other compulsory. Were her thoughts just dragging around in circles or something?

A moment later the secretary from before asked Roxas to come with her to the office, after a moment of charming refusal she grabbed his ear and insisted she come. After prying the lady off his sore appendage he waved buy to Nam and walked off with her.

She shrugged of the reason for his dismissal from class, knowing full well exactly why Roxas was being dragged into the principle's office again, and it wasn't a good thing. So she met up with Axel by the stairs of the drama room and explained what happened to Roxas before hand, why he wasn't here.

"So he probably got himself busted," Naminé groaned, poking out her tongue.

"Well I thought you would be happy that you weren't involved."

"Well I wanted to see his face when he met with our new Drama teacher, you have Marly right?"

"That I do," he said, flipping open his school diary to see the timetable flop out of it.

"Well he has some kind of Drama-teacher phobia I wanted to witness."

"I see, you're just being a sadistic little bitch again," he replied in a way one would speak with a baby, adding the 'w's and ruffling up her hair.

"Yes, as a matter of facts," she laughed, straightening it up.

"I got an inkling of what we're going to do for the school festival," he said, bounding up the steps two at a time.

"What would that be?" she asked, before she mumbled, "God, you're like a bloody kangaroo."

"Pfft. Like I'm telling you Barbie, you're gonna have to guess."

"I hate you."

"Thanks love, you're a doll."

She growled and threw her cell phone at his head, but he caught it and grinned, throwing it back. Axel had this weird habit of using words for girls that were way out of date, but super charming. He had gotten that from Roxas, who was still a supremely better charmer than him; it worked better without that air of danger that surrounded him, oh and maybe his lighter too.

"Hurry up, Marluxia gives candy to the first person that arrives to Drama."

She wondered about Axel's age, a lot. One moment he seemed to be sixteen, and then he was just really freaky again. Inside the Drama room they were met with a tall slim man with pink hair. PINK? How could anyone pull that off? It didn't matter to Axel because he was the one who got that first candy of the year. Weirdo.

"Kay," Marluxia started talking once it looked like all of his drama students were there, "I'm Mr. Kando, but I insist you call me Marluxia, because formalities in this Drama class are going to be really annoying later on," he was already starting to creep Naminé out, but it was the sort of strange that made her smile. "We, work on broadening your horizons and increasing your emotional durability in this class, and cowards will be given the most attention, not shoo'd to the back," he winked at a group of frightened people in the back.

A hand shot up and she noticed it belonged to resident Queen Bee, Olette DiCicco, "What will we be focusing on first Sir?"

"Well isn't that an obvious one?" he asked, prancing around the room like a school girl, as you do, _if_ you're a school girl, "We'll be focussing on the play that we'll be performing at the school festival silly."

"What'll that be?" some other random asked.

"The famous literary classic _Romeo and Juliet_!"

Groans from the boys ... and Naminé, plus squeals from the girls was not a satisfactory response to Marluxia. He groaned too, from his student's lack of enthusiasm.

"Remember boys, that though this was one of the most romantic Shakespearian plays, it was also the most violent," some of the boys heads shot up, "and it was also crammed full of dirty jokes." And amazingly, Marluxia had earned cheers. Yep, it was official, she liked this teacher.

Just as the pink-haired teacher was explaining the story to some that had lived under a rock for the last few centuries, Roxas was thrown into the class with an incredibly angry principle.

"I should strip you of your leader badge."

"He has a completely different kind of 'strip' in mind," Naminé whispered to Axel, they all knew their principle was a closet child molester; Marluxia had gotten the wrong reputation when it came to those things. There was just a kind of gleam in Mansex' eyes that told you he was eye-raping you. Axel smirks and pushes her playfully.

"But since there would be a student riot then I can't, you'll be serving detention after school for the next three months."

"Woah, isn't that a little harsh for tagging Seifer's car?" Axel whispers to Nam.

"I know right? It wasn't even a tag, it was more of a... tan for the car," he rolls his eyes and pushes her again.

"Stop pushing me you abuser."

"Abuse against Naminé, Destiny Isle says yes," he grins and they both turn their attention to Roxas. Because Marluxia has walked up to the principle and the entire class has become quiet to listen/eavesdrop.

"Xemnas, I'm afraid that can't happen, we need _everyone_ after school hours for the preparation of the play for the school festival."

He frowned. He couldn't get his way, boo hoo.

"Well then let me enforce something even worse than detention."

Roxas didn't waver in the threat, he kept his ground, hands in pockets and steady frown tight lipped and annoyed. But she saw through that, Roxas was curious.

"I know your mother Roxas, and I know that you're doing Romeo and Juliet for the play."

"Yes?"

"So my punishment on you is this, you must act in this play, as Romeo."

All jaws in the room dropped before there was a mind blowing scream from all the girls in the room. There were even cheers from some of the guys, who wouldn't be singled out for an audition.

"Unfair!" he whined, a facade, he was fuming. She knew the real Roxas would be saying a lot more than that, a few choice words she deciphered would be playing in his head would be; _fuck, fuckity-fuck, God damned, child molester, rapist, un-fucking-cool,_ word like that.

And with that the principle was gone, and Roxas was weaving through the seats to find the one next to Naminé to plonk his stuff down. He sent a seething look towards Marluxia, it was his fault that he had gotten a worse punishment than before. Naminé thought that he should be grateful for this rather than annoyed.

"I'm sorry Roxas, and I really wanted to see auditions too," Marluxia muttered.

At that, Roxas' eyes softened towards the teacher and he sighed, "Me too, Sir."

Looks like he didn't hate the Drama teacher as much as Naminé thought.

"Now that we've got a Romeo," Roxas groaned and slammed his head on his desk "Let's start next lesson with a search for Juliet."


	7. Keep Your Mouth Shut

Demyx was the only close friend in PE, and because the adorable lunatic was certain that he had a dick, it left her alone in the changing room. Well that isn't to say she was alone exactly, there were many girls in there that wanted to be her friend, but acted like such fakes that Naminé kept her distance. No, she did not want to discuss the colour of her nails because it clashes with your skin tone or some other crap like that, of course she knew that it clashed, she was an artist after all, and finding out what colours mixed together was second nature. But seeking for someone else's approval so desperately was a little creepy. And that's why she kept her distance from people she didn't know too well. That included people that were just plan bitchy, including Xion Stoner.

**_Believe me, I'm lying_ **

Keep Your Mouth Shut

Xion had a small stature and large blue eyes that had half the male population swooning over her. And truth be told, she was actually Kairi's little sister, but their mother had divorced their father and had taken Kairi and their family name with them. So, got that cleared up? Kairi lives with her mother in a fashion industry under the name Heartily, and Xion lives with her father who is a rich car salesman under the name Fair… they'd also had an older brother, but it was discovered that he had died recently. Very sad. Despite actually being related, Kairi dislikes Xion with a passion. But that's a story for later on. It's Naminé's hatred that we're focussing on right now.

She was an absolute darling in pre-K, and Naminé's best friend. But in grade school something happened when people finally realised that Naminé was dorky and Xion was cool, and then the raven-haired girl kinda just ditched Naminé to be friends with Queen bitch Olette. And yeah. Naminé wasn't one to hold grudges, but ever since Xion left her behind she's been acting like mega bitch to her ever since. And starting to date Roxas didn't help to calm her and bring her down to earth, it gave her bragging rights, and made her that much more unbearable.

What was even worst about their relationship was that Roxas was _never_ himself around her, he was always the charming and suave gentleman that _everyone else_ knew him for. Roxas was actually an awkward and shy person when he didn't know someone, and if he knew you, and liked you, he was this rambling idiot that was so affectionate it was cute. Well ... Xion had never seen that side of him before. Their relationship was a stage performance. But she didn't know that, she was too busy being idiotic.

At the moment she was bragging about her last date with the blonde Romeo (lol) which had been at Play Island Amusement park. No. She didn't know because she stalked them. She knew because Roxas' motorcycle and car were broken, and she had to drive him to the boat that got them there, using Axel's fake ID so they didn't need to drag their parents along.

"And then be bought me flowers and ice cream, did you know that Roxas' favourite flavour is sea-salt? I was the one that introduced him to it."

_Bullshit. Unless you've secretly got red hair and green eyes._

"And he has the nicest abs, we went swimming afterwards."

_Okay, that was kinda true_

"Is he a good kisser?" some random asked.

"Psht yeah!" she replied happily. "He acts a little mysterious around everyone else, but he's always himself around me."

_CAPITAL BULLSHIT!_

"Hey Naminé, you're his best friend," Xion turned to Naminé right as she got her sport singlet on.

"So what if I am?" the blonde replied.

"Do you know if he's good in bed?" the raven haired girl smirked, how could she be related to Kairi?

"Even if he told me those kinds of things, why should I tell you?" she growled.

"Oh, no, I meant from personal experience," she crossed her arms over her (tiny, miniscule, itsy-bitsy, puny, infinitesimal) chest.

"Eww!"

"I just thought you would know."

"He's my best friend."

"Yeah, that's why I thought you would have had your way with him by now."

" _What kind of girlfriend are you?_ " Naminé replied disgusted "Are you trying to say I'm a prostitute?"

"Geez, I thought that was obvious."

Naminé's eyes flared, clenching her fists and looked around for something to throw as her and her posse of friends left the room.

_THAT'S IT! I'm getting that bitch back._

In the short time she had she devised a quick scheme including running into the cafeteria, dunking Xion's clothes in the mystery meat and then sprinkling them in itching powder (which required breaking into Sora's locker). She knew that Tidus lived right next to the school and had a very 'friendly' golden retriever that passed the car park on their walk right after 3:00. That was approximately the time that Xion reached her car, yeah, she was in for a problem later. Oh yeah, and she also set Xion's new ringtone to go off right in the middle of her next class.

When she returned to PE she made up some bullshit story about not being able to find her shoes and the teacher let it slide and she joined Demyx in laps around the oval.

"What the hell were you doing?" he asked her, dirty blonde hair falling over gorgeous aquamarine eyes.

"Continuing making Xion's life a living hell."

"Another prank? It's only the first day."

"Never can start too early Dem-Dem my dear," she pants.

"Where should I be to witness this prank unfold?" he grinned.

"Either in my next art class, or at the parking lot at three."

"Awesome, then I'll be there for both," he smirked.

Naminé turned to him surprised, "Arts your elective?"

The smile on his face was something that had always lit a dark day. Since the day they had accidentally arrived at the string instrument teacher at the same time. Yep. That was how Demyx and Naminé had met. Demyx was asking about his Sitar's broken neck, and Naminé was asking what time her violin lesson was. They'd started their friendship from there.

She squealed, excitedly, throwing her arms around his neck in pure excitement, but their celebration was cut short by the teacher, telling them to hurry up.

"What's your compulsory?"

"It's drama ... hey, did you hear what happened to Roxas?"

"I heard he was caught spraying Seifer's car."

"Yeah, and his punishment for it is playing as Romeo for the school festival!"

"Holy crap! Who's Juliet?"

"I don't know yet"

"Sounds interesting."

* * *

As Naminé cleared up the last of her things for her final classes end there was an announcement over the speaker system and a drone sounded.

" _Naminé Fleuret, please report to the principle's office."_

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled just enough for the classmates around her to grin and laugh.

Upon entering Xemnas' office she couldn't help realising that the thin line on his face probably meant she was in trouble.

"First Roxas, and now you."

She stuck out her tongue in defiance.

"I saw the fiasco you're causing out in the parking lot."

"How?" she asked.

"Security footage," he answered coolly.

"You have _security cameras_ in the _changing rooms_?" she asked, eyes widening.

"Ah... um... safety purposes," he replied flustered.

Naminé narrowed her eyes.

_Pervert principle. I'm changing in the toilet from now on._

"The point is that I saw what you did to Ms. Fair's clothes, and I think that it calls for a proper punishment."

_You're only saying that because Xion's dad's your best friend you biased son-of-a-_

"And since, according to Mr. Kando, I can't give you detention, you're going to try for the role of Juliet in the school play."

"WHAT?"

"Yes, since there's already a line of other people playing Juliet, you'll have to compete," he smirks. God did she hates this person.

"What happens if I don't play as Juliet?"

"Then you have a choice, clean dust boards for a month, serve detention for two months, or be Xion's slave for three."

_STUPID, PERVERT, MOTHERFUCKING, BIASED-_

Those were some of the words that ran through Naminé's head as she endured her lecture. Not taking in another word after that stupid sentence.

She storms out of that office, with tense shoulders and fire in her ice blue eyes. She doesn't even want to listen to Demyx and Axel as they try to show her the video they took of Tidus' dog humping Xion's leg, all she mutters is a quiet "Dress in the toilets before PE prac from now on," and then she runs back to her apartment.


	8. One Sexy Doorbell

**Nam POV~**

_SCREW THIS GODDAMNED SHIT HOLE OF A WORLD AND ALL THAT MAY RESIDE INSIDE!_

Yeah, that's right; you heard my stream of consciousness! The world officially sucks, and it's only the first week. The FIRST WEEK! So I, Naminé Fleuret, will now be attempting for the role of Juliet, in the play _Romeo & Juliet_. And as my co-star, the ever so lovely Roxas Strife... can you say 'kill me' much? Roxas is an absolute darling whenever he isn't being a total jackass, but he's still my best friend, how am I supposed to get around that? I mean, Juliet does a lot of freaky stuff with Ro-mae-o (I like pronouncing it like this, deal with it) like kissing, and hugging, and taking drugs, and getting married and having that's right... SEX! Now they weren't going to show a scene like that on a theatre, probably because Roxas was against it and he doesn't want to have sex with some random girl that's scored the part of a dame that's fallen in love with her enemy. But it doesn't matter, because he still has to kiss her ... and what if that dame's me? What will I do?

**_Believe me, I'm lying_ **

One Sexy Doorbell

"AHAHAHAA That was one funny joke Naminé," Roxas laughed heartily, even going as far to slap his thigh while Naminé sat across from him in the little café they were drinking coffee at, and then went deathly serious, "Now don't ever say it again."

_Stupid bitch isn't taking me seriously._

"I'm not kidding ass," I fold a leg over another, crossing my arms over my chest. This is my intimidating-slut stance, beats anything else I can do that isn't illegal.

"Yes you are," he grins at me and he's just waiting for me to go _psyched!_ And start laughing my head off but I won't, and you know why? Because none of this is funny.

And then his face falls, and his cobalt eyes turn a shade darker "Eh... you're... you're not kidding are you?"

"I was waiting for when you would stop being such a blonde."

"Hypocrite! You're being serious! Oh Holy motherfucking fudge nuggets!"

"You can say that again," I growl and he opens his mouth and is about to say something when I add "-but please don't," and he closes it again.

"What are you going to do?" he asks.

"Well, it doesn't look like I have a choice, I'm going to play as Juliet, and figure out something before we actually get to any of the kissing scenes," she shrugged.

"I'm not that bad a kisser," he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at me and I start laughing. Adjusting the hem of my skirt, I throw a twenty onto the table and we both get out of there, we were walking over to Axel's house today. It's Wednesday but I want it to be Friday so I can get pissed. FML. FML. FML. FML.

"Like I believe anything that comes out of _your_ mouth," I joked, and it's funnier to both of us because it's partially true.

We sprint down the walkway to Axel's house, because if I don't then Roxas is going to push me onto the prickle bushes on the side of the road and I don't want them on my dead sexy new hoodie. The brand is seriously called _Dead Sexy,_ suits an awkward gangly girl like me eh?

We both slam into Axel's front door with a huge _BANG_ and alert the pyro that his humble guest have arrived, and are now fighting over which one of us gets to push the doorbell. We're both pushing each other out of the way ever after Axel's opened the door, and he stares at the two of us doing it. Haha. Doing it. Sounds... EWWWW WRONG! God, am _I_ slow today. The drawbacks of being blonde.

Roxas is physically stronger than me and I'm losing the fight to ring the doorbell when I think of this awesomely awesome plan!

"Oh look A SLUG!" I point to a random spot somewhere underneath Roxas' shoes. He screams like a bitch and jumps back, just in time for me to reach forward and press the button. He swears at me while the familiar chime rings. I blow him a kiss. Did I mention Roxas is afraid of slugs? He's yet to figure out what my phobia is.

"That was not cool."

"So's your face," I answer as I stride past Axel into his living room. He shrugs and lets us both in. He's used to us fighting over pressing the doorbell, it feels like an elevator button, it sings a small section of this awesome tune called 'Simple and Clean' and it lights up. Did you read that right? It LIGHTS UP! Best doorbell ever. I sound like a raving lunatic, but do I give a damn? Nosiree.

"Didn't I just hear the scoop of the century!" Axel smirks, he's the freak with all the connections ain't he? He attracts gossip like Roxas to naughty magazines. Yes. That's another dirty little secret.

"Care to share the said scoop?" I ask, throwing an arm around my red headed friend as we wit on the bar stools of his kitchen while Roxas rummages around the fridge for some sea-salt ice cream bars. Can't get enough of the stuff. It's like the best legal drug in the history of the universe.

"Looks like you got some competition for the role of Roxas' leading lady."

My blue eyes widen and I'm so shocked as I remove my hand from around his neck that I nearly push him off his barstool. Roxas points and laughs.

Dipshit. If you weren't so cute I'd punch you in that pretty face of yours.

"There's a line now, there's Olette."

"Eww, eww, eww, eww, eww-" I start, but Axel clamps a hand over my mouth. I lick it and he starts screaming about how disgusting it is while I scrape my tongue with a paper towel.

"Miss Fair."

I'm about to start my 'eww' ranting again but Roxas has a spoon ready to throw at me, I flip him the bird and wait for Axel to continue on.

"Rikku, Aeris, Aqua, Tifa, Yuffie, Yuna... and a few more."

"What? All those girls are getting in line to kiss that-" I turn to Roxas and point, " _thing?_ "

"Don't you want to profess your gay love for me?"

"I'm not gay."

"Aren't you now? But you're in love with me!" he announces, dancing around the kitchen.

I narrow my eyes to slits, "What are you trying to imply Roxas?"

He puts his hands on his hips and assumes a much higher voice than before, his 'gay' voice, "Why yes Nami, honey, what I'm trying to say is you're hiding a dick."

That's the last thing Roxas says before I'm shoving an ice cream down his shirt.


	9. Casting

Roxas was absent the morning before their first official drama lesson, he could understand why. In fact, Axel guessed that the blonde was finding a way to severely injure himself, knowing that if Roxas really _was_ bothered by this predicament than he wouldn't bluff about breaking his arm. He was spending his afternoon with Naminé instead, celebrating surviving another math test with sea-salt ice cream from the nearby corner store. Actually, every math lesson deserved a reward, because when you weren't dying from boredom your brains were exploding. Yes, not the best experiences.

Naminé was already in a pretty sour mood, but as they made their way to the drama rooms Axel increased that tenfold by running up the staircase, so that he was now stationed atop Nam, like in the balcony scene and declaring, in a super loud voice... just as Roxas was walking by, "Thy lady Naminé, from eyes doth lovingly cast upon yonder prince, ah yes, it is, the young Roxas, who is thy ladies infatuation, her moon, her stars, and who is cause to a deep yearning within thy loins."

"Axel!" Roxas howls, "That's gross!"

"Take it as it is lover boy, got it memorized?"

**_Believe me, I'm lying_ **

Casting

The first thing the trio is met with is another tall red head, only slightly taller than Axel with little curves of red underneath aquatic blue-green eyes.

"Yo bro," Reno greets.

"What are you doing here?" Naminé asks, she knows Reno, they've been friends since she met Axel.

"Marly, since the man understands that I am one of the best drama students, had asked me to play in this production," he declares, in a way that can't be too good for his ego. Reno is a senior, and even though seniors aren't required to participate in the festival, they mostly do anyway, an excuse to get away from study sessions.

Marluxia was in the corner of the studio sorting out some of the papers and Naminé calls out to him while Roxas sits himself on the ground "Mr. Kando? Have you already chosen the roles?"

"No, no, I'm setting up the positions today," he assures. "I just thought that if Reno isn't beaten in the place I want to put him in, then I'll set him up as Paris."

"Well that's a role I can accustom myself to," he says excitedly, winking at Naminé, making her stick out her tongue.

The pink haired professor of drama then turns towards Roxas and raises an eyebrow at the way the boy is sucking at a slushy, even though class hasn't started yet, there shouldn't be food here. But the professor isn't angry, he's curious, "Roxas, I talked to your mother yesterday."

"Oh... I'm sorry about that," Roxas speaks around the plastic of the straw.

Roxas hates his step mom, you know? Because she's a bitch. A malevolent bitch.

"She said you're... ahem... birth mother read you Shakespearian as a child?"

"Ah... yeah, just a bit," he murmurs, seemingly embarrassed. Roxas had mentioned knowing a little bit when he was little-er, he seemed embarrassed by it now.

"Can you resite something from memory?"

"A direct quote? Easy as;" Roxas got up, with the straw still in his mouth he pointed with his free hand to Axel and said _"Come, you are a tedious fool. To the purpose."_

"What play was that from?"

Nobody seemed to hear that Axel was complaining at being taunted.

"Measure for measure."

"Do another?" Marluxia asked.

 _"Be not lost so poorly in your thoughts,"_ he smirks, placing the straw back into his drink.

"From?"

"Macbeth."

"Brilliant! Now, can you _use_ Shakespearian?"

"A little more difficult but..." he murmurs, "O sweet nectar, fruition of those that carry coals, a beautiful dance upon my tongue is at fault when I, toast to this day, this heavenly plastic, this saving straw, a guardian to losing any of water blessed by the lords hand in salt." Roxas didn't know at this point that his other classmates were grouping at the door, "I fall, and place my lips, mine own of unworthiest lust to the juice made by the goddesses, that which cans't be thwarted by sweet dime and filthy quick tongue alone."

Before he's even aware there's a huge round of clapping at the door, and Roxas, mortified, nearly dropped his sea salt ice cream slushy.

"That was beautiful Roxas!" Xion squeals, hugging him, "You were speaking about me right? Those pretty words about me?"

Naminé and Marluxia were cracking up. Xion sent Naminé a death glare, Axel was amused, but he didn't understand, most of what Roxas was speaking about didn't make sense.

"What are you laughing at? Are you jealous because he was speaking about me with poetry?"

"Yeah," Naminé grins sarcastically, "Sure."

When Xion lets him go Roxas throws the slushy in the bin and they begin their lesson, Naminé whispers something to Axel that was a little hard to catch, "If only Xion knew he was speaking about his slushy and not her."

One thing Axel learnt that lesson was that he needed to learn Shakespearian.

Two testosterone fuelled males were cast as Sampson and Gregory, namely Hayner and Pence, they weren't all that enthusiastic for bigger roles.

When it came to Tybalt and his goons, Rai's hand immediately shot up and Fuu agreed that Seifer would be perfect for that part. But Seifer seemed reluctant.

"Sir... I'd like to play as Romeo," he said, shocking the hell out of everyone else.

Marluxia's eyes widened, and then he turned to Roxas, "Well... Roxas was reluctant to play as him in the first place... listen here Seifer, if you can do a better job at playing Romeo then him then you can play him on the night, stand in as our Tybalt at the moment okay?"

"Fine."

That was a bother, Axel had no idea as to why Seifer would want to be Romeo, but when the beanie clad blonde laid eyes on Naminé he thought he could guess why, and it scared the shit out of him.

"Who's going to be Benvolio?"

A tentative hand rose by itself, no competition for Roxas' darling twin brother. Roxas smirked at his bro and gave him a high-five, the straw still in his mouth stopped him from speaking.

"Well... isn't that convenient? Why wants to be Lady Capulet?"

It was after a few moments that they had organised most of the main characters for the first scene. Lady Capulet would be Larxene. Daddy Capulet would be Squall, another senior that wanted to be away from study sessions. Lady Montague would be Ventus' crush Aqua, who seemed delighted at the position. And Lord Montague would be Luxord, as he preferred.

"Now... who else is positioning for the role of Juliet?"

It seemed that there weren't as many people going for the role as Axel had thought, but there were still too many girls for Naminé's liking, seen through her stiffened body language.

"Don't worry Nam," but Axel doesn't know what he's reassuring her off, that's she'll claim Juliet's role is something she doesn't want, but at the same time she's faced with something horrible if she doesn't try.

"Alright, that's too much trouble to worry about this lesson, we've got a lot of the casting done... can the Juliet's stay behind for lunch time drawbacks? Roxas too."

There was an audible groan when the bell rang; Axel saw it was from Roxas. The lanky red head laughed at Roxas' predicament, stuck in a room of pretty girls and he doesn't know what to do.

He knew he shouldn't have, but he couldn't help it. He bowed to Roxas and murmured, "Parting is such sweet sorrow."

Roxas' eyebrows furrowed before he slammed the door on Axel' form, flipping the bird before he turned his head and left.


	10. This title, Juliet

Naminé watched with an absent mind as Marluxia babbled on about something involving scene two. She didn't want to be in this room, despite the fact that it was one of her favourites. She'd rather be out trying to tease Sora about his sexuality or stealing Demyx's sitar instead of rehearsing lines for a play something like three months away. Instead she was staring right through the Paopu trees as the green leaves filtered emerald light through the window of the drama room. The gentle summer breeze slid across her skin leaving pleasant chills where they touched, and then Roxas had to ruin her mental descriptions.

"Beautiful," she murmured.

"I'm not sure about that... she's got a nice rack though."

Naminé raised an eyebrow and turned her head to see the current 'Juliet' practising her lines, albeit badly. She turned to Roxas with a look of horror on her face.

"You are so... _male!_ " she growled, punching him in the shoulder.

"Yes, yes, I am rather masculine aren't I?" he asked in a stuck up manner, examining his nails to contradict his statement.

"No."

"Was that a yes?"

"No it wasn't!"

"Of course Juliet, whatever thy lady wishes."

"I wish for you to die in a hole."

"Alright, maybe not that one," he smirked.

**_Believe me, I'm lying_ **

This title, Juliet

Three girls had already auditioned for the part, and she had read the signs on Marluxia's face... disappointment was one that stood out among the rest. Then came Xion's turn and the blondes averted their full attention to her for completely different reasons, Naminé wanted to see her fail and Roxas? Well he would probably want her to succeed wouldn't he? Being the adorable little whipped boyfriend-of-a-bitch he was.

The raven haired girl took a script from Marluxia and gave a sugary sweet little 'thank you' before ascending the steps of the stage. Roxas gave her his undivided attention. (lol) He stared at Xion, like a dog stares at a ham. Haha. Simpson reference.

"Xion, pick one of Juliet's parts and re-enact it. Tell me what the scene is."

"What's the one with 'where for art thou'?" she asked. Roxas was about to answer her but Naminé beat her to it.

"Act 2, Scene 2."

Xion's cerulean eyes glowered at her "I wasn't asking you." but she did flip to the page never the less. Bitch. No, Queen bitch, bitch bitchy-face. Wow, that sounded childish.

To Naminé's surprise, the bitch was good. And it pissed her off. She pulled of lines like 'What man art thou that thus bescreened in the night, so stumblest on my counsel?'

"That foolhardy man, thou which is drunk and alone, and injured in the mind of the eye." Naminé laughed, but Roxas glared at her, even though Marluxia looked a little pleased and amused.

 **Naminé's translation:** What kind of idiotic man? A drunkard who is blind, and mentally retarded.

"Naminé don't say that." Roxas murmured.

She stuck out her tongue. He was such a downer.

The raven haired girl turned to face Roxas and murmured "My ears have not yet drunk a thousand words, of thy tongue's uttering. Yet I know the sound. Art thou not Romeo?" she asked, eyes locking with Roxas' "And a Montague?"

"Neither, fair maid, if thee dislike." he replied with an oh-so-charming smile.

Naminé glowered "You're making me sick."

Roxas chuckled when Xion laughed. The thing is, they actually looked like good couple, which was the bad part, because Xion was so totally intoxicating for Roxas. She was bad for him.

"Olette? Will you have your go?"

Was it just Naminé being observant or did Olette give Xion dirties? Whatever. Her performance was not worth noting, so Roxas and Naminé rudely played thumb wrestling while she tried to act.

Naminé groaned when it was her turn. Had she stated that she didn't want to do this? She strutted around the stage as Roxas fiddled with the scarf that he was wearing. Why was he wearing the scarf at the beginning of summer? She had no idea.

When she turned again she saw Sora, Riku, Kairi, Axel and Demyx sneak in and sit on the floor next to the other students. Demyx whispered something brief in Marluxia's ear and the pink haired male simply smiled and nodded. Naminé fumed, sitting on the edge of the stage in a very unladylike manner, hissing at the new arrivals. Sora had brought popcorn. Seriously. POPCORN? And it was only a stupid little audition too.

"What are you freaks doing here?" she snarled.

"C'mon Nam, they're just supporting you." Roxas chastised, well that would have been a little easier if he didn't have a mouth full of popcorn. Stolen popcorn from the likes of Sora, who elbowed his cousin in the ribs.

"Easy for you to say. Anyways, I need your services."

"I'm no cheap whore, you have to pay me," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes, "No Roxas, I'm not actually asking for sex this time."

"This time?" Riku asked, amused. She blushed, his smile was fucking gorgeous. But despite that she turned back to Roxas.

"When I'm performing, be on the lookout for this sign," she held up her two index fingers and crossed them over. It was a sign they had taught each other before, they knew full well the meaning of this little signal.

Marluxia gave her a nod and then asked the scene she was going to be re-enacting. He was offering her a script but it was okay, she already knew this scene of by heart.

"Same scene as her. Different part." the blonde said, pointing to Xion. The princess huffed at this.

"I shall forget, to have thee still stand there, rememb'ring how I love thy company." she murmurs with the uttering lips of an angel, Juliet had always seemed like a sweet frail creature that had bite and authority at the same time. She had wowed Marluxia, she was sure. Xion was fuming.

Roxas smirked and stood before her, not needing the text either "And I'll stay, to have thee still forget, forgetting any other home but this." and the skater wasn't that bad either, he charmingly took Naminé's hands as he said this, making his way onto the small stage. Kneeling before her like the night-in-shining-armour every naive girl believed Romeo was. Kairi gave an enthusiastic 'whoop'.

"'Tis almost morning, I would have thee gone: And yet no farther than a wanton's bird, that lets it hop a little from his hand, like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves," Naminé indicated the signal and she swept around in a fluid motion so she was kneeling before Roxas like she was going to propose. And Roxas was standing up, pretending to blush like a shy innocent little girl, which actually looked rather gay.

Roxas continued the sentence "and with a silken thread plucks it back again, so loving-jealous of his liberty."

The entire audience was giving them 'WTF' looks. To which Roxas and Naminé gave quiet snickers. That's what they had been aiming for. As now Roxas was Juliet and Naminé was Romeo. They liked messing with everyone's heads.

"I would I were thy bird."

"Sweet, so would I," he murmurs in a really gay high pitched voice, making our friends laugh as he tried to act Juliet's part, "Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. Good night, good night! Parting is such _sweet_ sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow," and with that he places a kiss to Naminé's forehead, which she blushes at because she wasn't expecting that. And then Naminé gains another round of laughs because he pushes Roxas of the stage, stumbling.

"Sleep dwell upon thy eyes, peace in thy breast!" she points to Roxas' chest, which she is subconsciously stating, is rather flat (you know, because he's a boy and all) "Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest! Hence will I to my ghostly sire's close cell, his help to crave, and my dear hap to tell"

And with that she bowed and hopped of the stage. There was a moment's silence before the room erupted into applause.

"Bravo! Bravo!" cried Marluxia "The swapping at the end was quite comical," he laughed "but I prefer you speak with your chosen parts Naminé, Roxas."

"Just a bit of fun sir," Roxas smirked.

"Well, I'm actually very glad you two have an extended range of character roles! Good work! That's all for now. You're dismissed."

And while the small group was walking out of the drama block, they were commended on their excellent performance.

"You'd make a pretty fierce Romeo Barbie" Axel laughed, patting Naminé's back, she laughed.

"I," she announced "think that Roxas is a brilliant Juliet."

"Yes, I am." he announced, no modestly.

"After all, Juliet is the same gender anyway." she smirked.

Roxas paused for a second, and then he smirked too, and Naminé's eyes widened in fear "I'll show _you_ who's a _girl!_ " he threatened, running after the fleeting blonde who's laugh was echoing down the hallway.


	11. Clouds

The sun was just creeping, making its merry little way, over the dusky blue outline of the horizon. And normally, Naminé would have been asleep, in bed snuggled up like the content little caterpillar inside her blankets. But not today, _no_ , she just _had_ to stay up watching the complete collection of the Boogeyman movies with Roxas, yes, nightmare inducing movies. So she'd stayed up all night and thought that at the crack of dawn she might as well pay dear little Roxy a visit.

Heaven forbid, their apartments were side by side (no means of escape). So all she had to do to sneak in was go all 'spidey mode' and climb in through his window, or take the brief little leap from her balcony to his, because he _never_ closed that thing that was his balcony door. Whether it was by preference or because he was just plain forgetful she would never know. Pushing aside the cute little dream catcher/voodoo magic things he hung from the door and slipped inside. She tip toed in and saw a lump on the couch, the other end decorated with a head of blonde spikes.

Without even thinking she jumped onto lump and it gave a gruff noise of displeasure. She paused and tilted her head to the side, because that wasn't Roxas' voice, nor one that she had heard in a very long time. She ripped back the covers to find that she had not sat on Roxas' legs, but a much taller blondes waist. Besides, his voice was deep and alluring. No, not Roxas'. Jeez, it's like you people think she's in love with him or something.

"Oops. So..." she gave a nervous laugh before hopping off and tending to his frumpled blanket "May I inquire as to why you're sleeping on Roxas' couch," she laughed " _Cloud?_ ".

**Believe me, I'm lying**

Clouds

" _Naminé?_ " he murmured, ruffling at already tousled hair and opening one of his sleep deprived blue eyes.

You see, Cloud had been the darling older brother that kept his little brother's secrets. Naminé being one of them. She had actually found Cloud to be, well not good company, but more tolerable than the rest of his family (not to mention he was fucking _hot_ ). Cloud looked almost exactly like Roxas, except he was taller by about a head, had more muscle and his hair was a slightly different shadow of yellow, more a straw colour than a dirty blonde.

"Do you normally wake up at the crack of dawn to molest my little brother?" he said it in a way that was kind of like a snarl. An affectionate snarl. Could that be accomplished?

"Now Cloudy, let's not be bitchy pussies at-" she squinted her eyes at the DVD players clock "4:30 in the morning." She chided.

"Oh God, let me go to sleep." He murmured in his dead panned toned ways.

"Dude, you were in my hiding spot! I was gonna surprise Roxas with a-"

"Nam?" that was the voice of said blondie. Naminé ducked behind the couch and attempted to hide when Roxas sighed. That meant that he was in no mood for her games and be pleasant in presenting herself to thee royal of highnesses.

"Hey! Look what I got you!" she said, pointing to the blonde on Roxas' couch.

His eyes widened for what looked like a nano second, it could have been a motion in a supposed blink, but for second he looked surprised "Cloud, watcha doing here?"

"Ah... attending school?"

"It's Saturday." Roxas confirmed.

"Better to mooch of family then pay my own rent." Straight to the point there Cloud.

"Oh shit." Roxas sighed into his hand, which then developed into a yawn.

 _Cute_ she mentally gushed... in her head, because that's where that thought was staying.

"I thought you hated getting up in the morning."

"I do." Cloud and Naminé replied, completely in sync. Roxas laughed and then asked Cloud for the full story.

As it may be, Cloud had been serving in the army the last few years, and having reached some emotional epiphany, realised it was useless and returned back home to continue his education. She'd heard of running off to join the circus, she, Axel and Roxas had tried it one time with unsatisfactory results. But she'd never heard of running off to join the army.

What she did see in Cloud's eyes was something that wasn't completely an epiphany, but a loss. Something in the soldiers eyes spoke about missing life and regrets and giving up, and they didn't question it any further. Because Roxas read _her_ body language and followed her lead.

"So now you've signed into Destiny High again." Roxas completed the narrative with an unimaginative flourish.

"Yep." Cloud wasn't much for talking.

Roxas and Cloud hadn't known each other that well during childhood. They were raised apart, and the one year they lived in the same household wasn't enough to get to know each other well enough, because next year Roxas was old enough to rent his own apartment, and Cloud had joined the army. So it was a strange surprise that chocobo head had randomly dropped into his apartment and taken up Naminé's leg room.

"And you want to live in my apartment." They were more statements then questions.

Naminé's eyes raised with each one until her blonde eyebrows were almost behind her mussed up bangs. Through this she examined Cloud. Cloud with ripped muscles but a shortish slim figure and baby blue eyes and impossibly soft looking hair and-

The hottie nodded. No, not Roxas. Cloud.

"This... feral wasteland of CD's and three-month-old pizza?" well that was going a bit far, wasn't it Roxas dear?

He nodded once again. Roxas shrugged and sighed "Go ahead, but you're paying half the rent."

"'kay" no questions asked, the military had sure done some stuff to this blondie's head.

"Are you staying Nam?"

"Probs."

"And you staying awake Cloud?"

The ex-soldier shrugged "Want breakfast? I'll probably make waffles or something."

Naminé was at the table in a blur of blinding speed. He took that as a yes.

"And there's one thing that you might want to be cautious of Cloud." Roxas warned making his way to the kitchen.

"Hmm?"

"She visits," Roxas said pointing to Naminé " _all the time_. And I don't know how to make her stop."

Cloud smiled a little, just a little.

And Naminé thought she might be in love. Not with Roxas mind you.


	12. Just Keep Swimming

**Nami POV~**

Why, **why** does a School of the Creative Arts need a fucking **swimming carnival?** I can tell you why; because life exists, to fuck us up the ass, and when it's done with the cum dumpster, it throws us aside, and spits on our bodies. Aww, was that a little too graphic for you? Well too bad, I'm in a _really_ horrible mood right now, because it's hot, school regulation says we're not allowed to wear a bikini and I'm supposed to be 'rallying team spirit'.

The rest of Oathkeeper is about as lazy as I am, and I'm not worried. I've got my two piece swimsuit covered up with a mid-drift and short-shorts, which _still_ isn't appeasing the teachers. Meanwhile, Roxas and Ventus were having a grand old time trying to pull off a poker game with some of the lower years. I was sitting next to Vanitas Valentine, who actually belonged to Oblivion, but here was the problem; resident bad-boy had a _huge_ crush on Ventus, and didn't want to speak to him. Everything that came out of his mouth was an insult, so you could see why it wasn't working out for him, yes? Besides, people swapped houses all the time, all they had to do was wear some of the ridiculous party decorations that represented the colour of their houses. People like Roxas couldn't do it ( _anymore_ ) because we were the leaders of our houses, and setting a _marvellous_ example if ever there was one.

At least Vanitas provided some decent conversation, there weren't many other people I could talk to in my house, and Vanitas kept Xion away at least, because she was in the _same_ house. Eugh! Totally unfair.

**_Believe Me, I'm Lying_ **

Just Keep Swimming

"Grow some balls, Vani and ravish him."

"You know that's considered rape, right?" Oh Vanitas, how smart you are. As far as she knew, Vanitas didn't have many friends. It was sad. Oh so sad. He had this personality that seemed to _repel_ all those happy people away. That's probably why he and I get along so well. He was actually _really_ smart, like; devious, but no one really thought nicely of him because he was such an asshole. Boo hoo. Then again, she acted the same way… she wondered what the difference was.

"I take the time to grace you with my presence, and you _turn down_ my ideas? Ugh, how insulting. Remove yourself from my presence, peasant," she joked with a superior flick of the wrist. Vanitas was about to reply when she clamped her hand over her mouth, watching as Cloud Strife passed by with his trunks riding _gloriously_ low on his hips. She was ogling at the riveting muscle, shiny and dripping wet while he engaged in conversation with his best friend; Leon Loire. Who was, in all respects, walking sex. Like, ferserious. Such a shame he's like, asexual or something, just like his best friend. Roxas thinks they're getting it on behind the scenes.

Vanitas's golden eyes widen and he makes a low, chuckling noise, "Oh gods, I can't _believe_ you."

"What?" Because everyone knows that Naminé doesn't appreciate being kept out of the loop.

"That is _so_ wrong. I can't believe you have a crush on the twin's older brother, your _best friend's_ older brother," Vanitas shook his head, tut-tutting her. She pinched his lips in between her fingers, giving him the fiercest glare that she could.

"This is _not_ getting out, okay Valentine?"

"What's in it for me?"

She looked at him as if it was obvious, "I'll keep your little infatuation with Ven a secret."

Vanitas released a petulant whine before prying her hands off and crossing his arms over his chest. Sulky bitch. That was _my_ job.

"You know… I can help hook you guys up if you want, I mean, it can't be _that_ hard to steer Ventus' attention away from Aqua, and we already know he's bisexual."

"Coz of that fling with Terra? Yeah, I remember…" Vanitas' gold eyes looked up at the sky for the longest time before he turned back to her. "And I suppose you'd want something too?"

"Now, you're infamous for having a pretty manipulative mind yourself Vani," she murmured, and he leaned in closer.

"Your point being?"

"I need you to help me break Roxas up with Xion." Vanitas grimaced. He had history with Xion, history being that _she_ was the one that turned him gay, or at least gayer than he was when they were dating. He hated her, so he agreed half-heartedly.

"You've got a deal," he smirked, before their attention was diverted to Ventus who was passing them by.

"Valentine, you're supposed to be with the rest of your house," Ventus said with the most adorable frown.

"I'm busy professing my undying love for Naminé," the black-haired smart alec, smirked, lowering his eyelashes in a look that almost seemed seductive. Vanitas was actually pretty hot, she would admit. If she was a guy, she would totally turn gay for him.

"I'm getting a lot of proposals today," Naminé crossed her legs over another and fanning herself with a magazine.

"Whatever, just make sure your races are filled in the right house," Ven said dismissively, and walked off towards the canteen. She watched Vanitas watch him go, delighting in the smooth muscle that lined his back. She reached over and ruffled his hair.

"You're so whipped it's cute."

"I am _not,_ " he replied indignantly, but she went ignored as Roxas was now making a display over at his house, wearing a fake black hula skirt and using a loudspeaker.

" _Beating Oathkeeper will be a sitch,  
Because their leader's a lazy bitch!"_

Roxas was about to get told off by their teachers when Naminé stood up and grabbed a microphone, walking to the edge of the pool to be heard.

" _Oblivion better watch their heads,  
Because Roxas used to wet the bed!"_

Said blond let out a cry of outrage before he threw down his loudspeaker and screamed himself, "Oh it's _on_ now, Barbie!"


	13. Photographs

_"Blond and dumb, you've got a big-ass bum.  
Is that all you do? Sit around and wait?  
The swimmers in your races, always commin' late?"_

_"Insulting my body, you are such a prick.  
At least I haven't commented on your tiny, little di-!"_

_"Naminé!"_ Kairi clamped her hand over her friend's mouth, but the blond could see that she was fighting back giggles. Naminé broke free from her, laughing at the way that Roxas was thrusting in her general direction. The races had paused, instead deciding to listen to both of the house leaders in their verbal war.

_"Oathkeeper isn't one to lie;  
Let's step it up and make 'em cry!"_

_"Oblivion isn't one to brag,  
But Oathkeeper's a total lag."_

_"'Lag' belongs in COD,  
You stupid blond sod."_

_"Dive under a truck,  
You freaky little fu-!"_

Ventus stole the loudspeaker from Roxas' hands while Professor Xehanort stole Naminé's, giving her a glare which she gladly beamed in response to. She sat back next to Vanitas after giving Roxas the finger, "I am so glad that Xehanort is your grandfather, or else I would've _so_ had detention."

"You're _using_ me?" Vanitas replied in mock-hurt.

"Duh," she smirked, eyes glowing, "isn't that all you're good for?"

**_Believe Me, I'm Lying_ **

Photographs

"What's the time now?" Vanitas asked her.

"We still have," Naminé brought out her iPod, which was actually against the rules, "about an hour and a half left."

The black-haired teenager growled, snatching Naminé's iPod from her hands and scanning through the songs, "Wow, you've actually got some good music here. Surprising of you."

"Vanitas, I'm in your _music_ class. Of course I have fantastic taste." She rolled her eyes when he snorted, "That reminds me; what's your compulsory?"

"Visual Arts," he replied languidly.

"Eww, does that mean you're in my class?"

"Nah," he replied sarcastically, "it means I'm showing up in Home Ec. Of course I'm in your class. There's only one tenth grade VA class."

"That's going to be weird, I've never seen your art before," she admitted.

"That's because it's mostly homosexual erotica," he answered, completely straight-faced. So completely straight-faced, that she burst out laughing. Oh gods, Vanitas was funny.

Vanitas slung his hand around her neck, which was odd considering they weren't really that close. He was laughing with her, but when she opened her eyes, Vanitas was looking over to the Oblivion house with a suspicious eye. She went along with it, just because she was curious as to what he was doing.

"Look at that," he pointed a finger at Roxas' general direction. She swivelled her head just in time to notice that Roxas had _just_ turned his head so that he could speak to Axel, who had snuck into the Oblivion house. He was actually in Kingdom house. He looked pissed. It wasn't obvious in his expression to normal people, but Naminé knew his stature, the slack muscles in his smile, his drooping eyes. Now that she thought about it, he looked a little sad too, "I think Strife over there is irritated that you're hanging out with me."

"That's ridiculous," she laughed, placing her hand over Vanitas' face and pushing him away, "Roxas doesn't get jealous."

Vanitas raised an eyebrow, golden eyes sparkling as he flicked her forehead, the both of them were still laughing, when they felt a sudden flash. They turned their attention to Pence.

"Oh hi, Pence!" Naminé greeted happily, but Vanitas, irritated at having his picture taken glowered at the brunet, who took a step back like a frightened animal. She rolled her eyes and smacked Vanitas' head, "What'cha doing?"

"Taking photos for the yearbook, and apparently I'm getting a lot of pre-orders in copies of… um… certain individuals."

"How much is a photo of Ventus?" Vanitas asked immediately.

"Fifteen dollars."

"A photo of Cloud?" Naminé demanded.

"Twenty," he replied.

"Seriously?" she groaned, jumping up and snatching the camera, pressing up against Pence because he didn't want her to handle his precious camera by himself. She flicked through the pictures, trying to find ones of Cloud. There was an image of Hayner throwing a beach ball at Seifer, hitting him in the head. There was an image of Sora and Ven, cheering for their team. There was a picture of Roxas, minus the hula skirt, with a pair of aviator sun glasses on as he blew a neon green bubble pipe, a photo which the both of them laughed at. She almost choked when she saw an image of Leon getting out of the pool, shining muscle under slightly tanned skin, chestnut brown hair slicked back in a way that made her drool.

"We've got a lot of orders for that copy."

"Like who?"

Pence smirked, brown eyes narrowing, "That's confidential."

"Damn you. Photographers are a weird race." She flicked through the pictures a little further, freezing when her eyes landed on a picture of Cloud, looking to the left of the picture screen displaying nearly _all_ of his fantastic body as it shone in the sun, gravity defying locks were damp but still in shape, blue eyes were lowered as he regarded the scene before him with little interest. Blue and so damn intense. She had never seen something so delicious.

"Naminé, you're drooling."

"Has anyone else ordered this photo?" she asked him, eyes popping out of her head.

"Yes?"

"Who?"

"Naminé! That's classified."

"Fine. Just get me three copies."

"Seriously?" Vanitas asked, placing an elbow on one of his knees, "Sixty dollars on the older Strife?"

"Don't tell me you're not going to buy some pictures of Ventus right here, maybe the ones of him _changing_ in the shower rooms?"

"I'll need five of those, Pence," Vanitas demanded.

"This is the best Swimming Carnival ever," Pence grinned, "You know, you can get a discount on the Strife pictures if you pose for a few photographs. We've got some requests for pictures of you."

"Oh really?" she asked, blushing, "that's sweet."

Out of nowhere, Xion jumped into their conversation. Thing is, it's kind of hard to pull off the twirling-your-hair-around-a-finger flirting move without long hair. She tried to give Pence the sultriest look she could, failing so completely.

"Hey, Pence. Are there any orders for pictures of me?"

There was a devious glint in Pence's eyes that she didn't notice, "Of course Xion, even more requests than Naminé."

At first, Naminé was offended, but then she noticed the smug smile that Pence was giving the both of them. Vanitas snatched the photographs and flipped through them, giving Xion a glare. The black-haired girl snorted and walked away, giving Naminé a smug smile before the blond gave her a mocking one back. She was shocked when she heard Vanitas choke on laughter, almost dropping the camera.

Naminé pried the device from his hand, chucking it to Pence as she doubled over with giggles.

"Get me a copy of that photo too!" they yelled in tandem.

Pence left that Swimming Carnival a very wealthy photographer.

**Highest orders;**

_5._ Vanitas and Naminé laughing with their arms slung over each other. Unfortunately, this was speculation of a new romance.

 _4._ Cloud, the picture that Naminé drooled over.

 _3._ Naminé, her sunglasses slipping down her nose as she looked over her sketchbook, offering her audience a coy smile and a two fingered salute.

 _2._ Leon, the picture that Naminé hyper-ventilated over.

 _1._ Xion… picking her nose.


	14. Broken Gay-Dar

**Nami POV~**

Oblivion house won.

I cannot express my complete and utter _hatred_ for that house! I mean, they participated in the same amount of races, they were sloppy with their rubbish, they yelled _bad words_ at me (!), they were caught making out with their disgusting, flea-ridden, crab-infested girlfriends in the Men's bathroom, and now they're eating my ice cream!

Alright, so fine.

I lost. I'm meant to buy the ice cream.

…

Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.

I still wish Axel were here. He's in Kingdom house, so he's normally the peace keeper between the both of us. But then again, the third party in the group is normally the peace keeper between the other two, as without the peace keeper our worlds would descend into confetti-filled, adulterated chaos.

That's right.

And there _will_ be marshmallows.

Gods, I am _losing_ it.

**Believe Me, I'm Lying**

Broken Gay-Dar

Firecracker decided he wanted to hang out with the older kids, namely Demyx, Larxene and Zexion leaving me and Roxas by ourselves. We were discussing how much Pence had probably made from his photo business and whether or not I should think of continuing such an outlet, and how Roxas had been caught with Xion's hand in his pants, and wonderful pointless things like how Sora had almost managed to dack Leon in front of the entire school.

If I was a man I would probably turn gay.

I'd decided it today, because there are just so many hot men at our school.

Ladies and gentlemen; the upside of a Swimming Carnival, I give you, hot sweaty men with gorgeous bodies, soaking wet and illuminated by the sun.

"Are you daydreaming again?"

"Did you ever realise that your brother is fucking hot?" The words blurted out before I could stop them. I clamped my hands over my mouth right after it did. I can't help it! I was born without a brain-to-mouth filter! I'm sorry!

"Al-right then…" his eyebrow's knitted together and the light in his eyes dimmed. "Why were you getting all touchy-feely with Vanitas then?"

"Because he was willing to speak to me," I answered defensively, wrapping my hoodie closer around my body, staring at my scratched white Converse sneakers. Then sun was casting our shadows further down the block. I stopped Roxas for a second so that I could take a picture with my phone and draw the scene later. It was the way he asked the question… that tone. It was guarded. I didn't like it.

"You know I would have been willing to speak to you…"

"Of course Roxas, but you couldn't move from Oblivion house, so I had to make do with who I had. And Vani doesn't-"

"You have a nickname for him?" this time, his voice sounded like it bordered on a growl.

"Roxas," she cringed, "why are you getting mad at me? Are you… are you jealous?"

"No," he scoffed, turning to walk again. His posture was slouched. His feet were scuffing the pavement. He was lying.

"Roxas."

"What?" he asked, but it sounded like a snap. I actually cringed from the tone before I steeled my resolve.

"Vanitas is gay; he has a crippling crush on Ventus. I know you've picked up the signs, so stop being a pussy and a prissy little bitch about it and just accept it."

He swallowed and nodded, releasing a calming sigh. When he opened his eyes again, the sun was behind his head, and there was something ethereal about watching his glowing blue eyes against the pallet of skin and soft amber and orange. They were such a beautiful colour, like the waters of the Caribbean.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm not sure if I'm willing to give Ventus up to Vanitas though, I mean, what if some of that stuff that people say about him being violent and a drug addict are true?"

"Stop _judging_ people."

"I'm not _judging_. I'm speculating," he retorted. "Forget about it… I should have asked you what I've wanted to for weeks now. Nam, do you have a crush on Cloud?"

There's no use lying to Roxas, really. But then again, I am the only one that can.

"Maybe… just a little one."

"Pence said that you were drooling over him at the swimming pool."

I twittered, flicking my hand, "Oh, well you know photographers! You can't trust them!"

"Naminé… you know that Cloud's with Leon right n-"

"I've yet to see substantial evidence," I growled. I refused to believe I'd chosen another unattainable guy. I used to have a fantastic gay-dar. What happened?

"They have sex. In my apartment. All the time," he shuddered, dropping the popsicle stick of his ice cream into a random person's bin.

"How can you tell?" I asked in disgust, "Do you get off hearing Leon-"

"No!"

"Hearing your brother-?"

 _"No!"_ he forced a nervous chuckle out of him before he shrugged. "They're so quiet that you can drown the noises coming from his room with the TV on average volume."

I tugged on her hair, groaning, "I picked another unattainable guy. Seriously. What is wrong with me?"

"Aww, Nami," he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You're going to find someone some day… have you ever considered going lesbian?"

I rolled my eyes and bumped my hip into his, "I don't know, lady parts don't do it for me Roxas. And you wonder why I like yaoi so much. So, do you know who's the uke? It's Cloud right?"

"Actually, I think it's Leon," the stupid blond replied before the images started to settle in. "Eww! Gross, I can't believe I just said that! That's it! No! We're never discussing my brother's sex life again! Never. Never. _Never!_ "

"Fine, fine. Oh, were going out tomorrow night. I need to hone my gay perception ability."

This time, he rolled his eyes.

"You're insane."

"You love me for it."

"Yeah…" he laughed, and his smile was beautiful. "I do."


	15. I Hate My Siblings

"Enzymes hath be the herald to early death in those between adulthood and infancy, to the point!" Roxas declared dramatically.

"And to which, I agree, fair Roxas. For heliotropes, and twisting ladders, hold no importance for thy budding artist."

"Will you two _shut up_ with the Shakespearian?" Cloud growled while they attended to their science homework. It was the afternoon, and doing homework right next to the PS3 when it was temptingly calling 'Play me! I have Assassin's Creed!' was proving to be incredibly difficult.

"Sorry, Cloudo," Naminé apologised, "Marly's got us practicing tomorrow and I am so out of practice."

"Nay! She speaks in riddles, and thy dear maiden means forgiveness is in blunt request, for the acting dues call forth," Roxas replied, receiving a thwack in the head from the text book.

"Quit it!"

"I beseech thee! Forgive this incompetent fool," Roxas replied.

"Turn it off!" Naminé growled.

"My voice is but a light switch-!" Cloud shoved a piece of candy into Roxas' mouth, realising too late what it was, and spitting it out, "Gross, Clow! You _know_ I hate liquorice!"

**Believe Me, I'm Lying**

I Hate My Siblings

"Leon said he was giving us a ride."

"Why would _Leon_ of all people give us a ride?" Naminé asked.

"Because Sora asked him to. I know, Sora might not be family, but our parents are pretty close and because of that, me and Sor are pretty close. Therefore, me and Leon are really close."

"So this little favour has nothing to do with the fact that he's fucking your brother?"

"Pfft, of course not! Besides, didn't I tell you that Leon was bottom?"

"I prefer to think of Leon on top."

"Bottom!"

"Top!"

"Bottom!"

"Please tell me that you two are fighting about a bunk bed, or something?" Sora asked. Oh, it seemed that Leon's beautiful silver Lexus had appeared out of absolutely nowhere.

"Are you coming or not?" the stoic brunet asked, as Roxas threw open the door and pushed Sora to the end so that he and Naminé could fit into the back.

"Don't get your knickers in a knot, Lee," Naminé grinned.

"Been there, done that," Cloud's breathy voice floated in from the front seat with a slight chuckle only to become a strangled, alarmed choking noise when Leon's hand crept up Cloud's thigh and groped something. The blond pushed it away and snarled.

"Hey, can we limit the groping while straight people are in the car?" Sora called.

"Oh yes," Cloud agreed, "wouldn't want to traumatise poor Naminé there."

"What about me and Roxas?"

"What _about_ you and Roxas?"

"You're a dick, Cloud."

"And you're an ass, Sora."

"I _knew_ it!" Roxas yelled, only to have his mouth clamped on by Naminé'. He licked her hand and she yelped in disgust.

"Would you guys keep the foreplay to a minimum?" Leon drawled from the front.

"Not a lot coming from you," Roxas spat. "I mean, could you guys _warn_ me when you're going to have sex? Better than finding out I've been in the apartment playing video games until halfway through."

"God, mood killer, Roxas. 'Alright Leon, _you_ go find the lube, I'll tell Roxas we're starting'."

"Ah," the blond scratched the back of his head, "I can see where you're going there."

"Guys, don't you feel just a _tiny_ bit awkward?" Sora called, but unfortunately, Sora was ignored.

"Well at least my relationship isn't like yours and Naminé's. In denial, seriously. You're probably having an affair behind our backs."

"I am not!"

"Although it would be rather romantic," Leon butted in, "considering how against each other your families are."

"It would, wouldn't it?" Naminé agreed.

"Yeah, if Roxas had the balls to dump Xion and ask you out."

"Excuse me? How long did it take you to build up the courage to snog Leon?" Roxas asked vehemently.

"He didn't, we had a one night stand."

"See?"

"If I wanted to ask Naminé, I'd do it right now, in this car!"

"Do it then!" Cloud dared.

"Naminé, go out with me!" Roxas demanded rather than asked.

"I expect you to pick me up at five o'clock, Friday night to head to the Carnival at the Pier then," she grinned, patting Roxas' head.

Roxas stared at Cloud, beguiled, amazed that his brother would do something like this, "You set me up! You know I'm going with Xion."

"Too bad. I never approved of her anyway."

When they exited the car the blond patted Naminé's head, "Thanks for the help Cloudy."

"Anything to get him away from Xion."


	16. Hit and Miss

"I'm uncomfortable with the fact that you'll be portrayed as my daughter in this," Leon's drawl _oozed_ enthusiasm. She rolled her eyes and hopped on his back like a rabid monkey. He desperately tried to throw her off but her scraggly arms were just too much for him to take.

"Oh yeah! Lion tamer right here!" she cheered, gaining the attention of nearly everyone in the auditorium. Cloud and Roxas were in the front conversing about some thing non important when they turned their attention to them and started laughing.

"Leon! How could you? And right in front of my brother too," Roxas teased, earning a scowl from the scarred brunet.

"Sweet Shiva, what are you doing?" Cloud grinned.

"We're having some quality father and daughter time."

For any of you wonderful people that have forgotten, Naminé Fleuret, had been forced to audition for the role of Juliet. While her dear friend Sqa-she _MEANT_ Leon- had been casted as Lord Capulate. I _know_ right? It was kind of hard to not think about incestuous relationships with your father, especially when you had one like Leon. It's a sick, sick world, alright?

"That _is_ plausible," Roxas mused, "considering Naminé looks like the love child between Cloud and Leon. Hey! Leon, are you sure you're not a girl?"

"Why do you automatically presume _I'm_ the bottom?" he asked defensively, pointing to Cloud, " _He's_ the pretty one!"

Oh, here we go again.

**Believe Me, I'm Lying**

Hit and Miss

"Alright, guys. We're going to have a run through of Act 3, Scene 5."

"Oh, is Roxas appearing in this scene?" Xion asked, making those disgusting googly eyes at her stupid, oblivious boyfriend. Roxas was still speaking with his brother. What was Cloud doing anyway? Oh, then again, he might have been working backstage like Vani and a few others.

"Not this particular _part_ ," Marluxia answered. "In order to see who would best play as Juliet, we'd like to see the chemistry between the characters, namely Lord and Lady Capulate." He smiled when he saw Leon giving her a piggy-back ride, "It looks like Naminé already has an advantage over the rest of you, concerning Daddy Capulate. I hope the rest of you can keep up."

"Aww, Daddy Capulate. Doesn't that sound adorable, Kitten?" Cloud cooed from the edge of the stage.

"Hey! I said not to call me that in public!" Leon growled, when Roxas and Nami looked at each other before yelling out 'BLACKMAIL!'

Leon forced her off then, so they could observe the other Juliets. The thing is, she might have been tight with Leon, but Nam certainly didn't like Larxene. Back when she had been a shy innocent little girl, Larxene had bullied her continuously. Sora and Roxas were always standing up to her back then. And thing was, the interaction between Lady Capulate (ie. Larxene) and Juliet was more common than that between Juliet and Lord Capulate.

"Larxene, I'd like you to start on Lady Capulate's speech, line one-hundred and seven."

The blond mad her way upstage to join Leon and Naminé went down to sit in between Roxas and Cloud. The rest of the Juliet's were also sitting in the audience.

"Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child. One who, to put thee from thy heaviness, hath sorted out a sudden day of joy, that thou expect'st not, nor I looked not for," Larxene's vocals were very clear, very precise. So Axel wasn't bull-shitting her when he said that Larxene had taken drama as well. Lord knew she had the guts to do it, and didn't care what anyone else thought of her. Naminé respected her a little for that, but she was still a bitch. Although, Larxene hadn't been mean to her as of late. She wondered why.

Olette was the first Juliet, and she had one of plays in front of her. Naminé rolled her eyes, knowing that the brunet had spent more time wondering what outfit to wear instead of practicing her lines, "Madam, in happy time, what day is that?"

"Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn, the gallant, young, and noble gentleman, The County Paris, at Saint Peter's Church, shall happily make thee there a joyful bride."

"Now, by Saint Peter's Church and Peter too, he shall not make me a- I mean- there a joyful bride. I wonder at this… haste, that I must wed, Ere he, that should be husband, comes to we- I mean- woo. I pray you, tell my lord and father, madam, I will not marry yet. And when I do, I swear, it shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate, better\- ummm… rather than Paris. These are news indeed!"

"Um…" Marluxia nodded, an obviously fake smile plastered to his face. "Thank you Olette, we're definitely putting you into consideration."

Leon rolled his eyes and Larxene let out an impatient huff before turning her attention to the next candidate, Xion. Oh, this was going to be amusing.

"Just continue where she left off," Marluxia instructed.

"Here comes your father. Tell him so yourself, and see how he will take it at your hands," Larxene scoffed, turning in Leon's direction as a sign to go.

"When the sun sets the air doth drizzle dew, but for the sunset of my brother's son it rains downright. How now? A conduit, girl? What, still in tears, evermore showering? In one little body. Thou counterfeit'st a bark, a sea, a wind, for still thy eyes, which I may call the sea, do ebb and flow with tears. The bark thy body is, sailing in this salt flood. The winds thy sighs, who, raging with thy tears, and they with them, without a sudden calm will overset thy tempest-tossèd body.—How now, wife? Have you delivered to her our decree?" Leon delivered the sentences in smooth, balanced tones that spoke of more emotion than he actually used in _real_ life. It had most of the girls in the audience swooning, much to Cloud's dislike.

"Actually, Larxene, could you just skip forward to line 158?" Marluxia requested.

"Fie, fie! What, are you mad?"

"Good Father, I beseech you on my knees, hear me with patience but to speak with- a dammit- a word," Xion stuttered.

"Gosh, can you guys skip to 197?"

"You don't need me anymore," Leon declared, slipping off the stage and sitting in Cloud's lap coquettishly, until the blond rolled his eyes and pushed Leon into the seat next to him.

"Actually, we're going to need you in a bit, Leon, so don't go far. Xion, start from line 197."

"Is there no pity sitting in the clouds, that sees into the bottom of my grief?—" she was being overly dramatic, like… even a normal person would not react to that situation like that. Xion was such a poser, it made Naminé feel angry. "O sweet my mother, don't- I mean- cast me not away! Delay this marriage for a month, or a week. Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed in that dim mummyment where Tybalt lies."

"It's _'monument'_ you ditz!" someone called out from the audience, and Naminé didn't realise who it was until everyone was looking at her.

"Naminé, don't be rude," Marluxia scolded, and Xion smiled smugly. "If you think you can do better, come up here."

"Good luck," Xion sneered, "all of these words are impossible to understand anyway."

"They're not impossible, just old," Naminé replied cattily before she turned to Marluxia. "Why do we have to say it in old English anyway sir? How about we do an updated rendition?"

Marluxia raised his eyebrows, "I'm interested, why don't you show me what you mean?"

"Alright, maybe we should start from where Lord Capulate comes in?"

Leon groaned as he was called to the stage, saying his lines as he ascended the stairs. Naminé liked him for that. Leon was a bookworm, (plus, she was pretty sure he had a photographic memory) and he didn't need a script. Larxene was pretty good too. She only needed the first line or two for a scene and she could remember the rest.

_"Dammit Juliet, are you still crying over the death of your cousin? You cannot possibly contain that much water in your tiny body. Is there poetic justice now in saying the wind is your sighs? Or that those tears will sooner sink your ship than relieve you of this pain?"_

"Bravo, Leon! You not only conveyed the message, but you shortened the text as well!" Leon gave a little bow before turning to Larxene.

_"Well, wife? Have you told her our decision yet?"_

_"You mean to marry Paris? Yes, but she refuses. She declines the ungrateful brat! She said she would rather be married to her tombstone."_

Leon's eyes looked stormy as he turned to Naminé, who was pretending to blubber like a whale, _"What do you **mean** she refuses? Juliet, aren't you happy that you're going to be wed to a gentleman of such high status? Why aren't you grateful?"_

 _"No,"_ Naminé glared at 'Lord Capulate', who was actually smirking under his curtain of brown bangs, _"I can't be thankful for something that I **hate.** But I'm thankful that you have." _She shook her head, laughing as if she had gone hysterical, _"I can't be proud of what I despise, but I can be thankful for something I hate, if it was done out of love?"_

 _"What is this? I hear 'hate' and 'thank you' and 'love' all in the same sentence. I'm confused daughter, and angry. You're not giving me any thanks by showing no pride. Get yourself ready. You're going to the church to marry Paris, and if you don't go on your own,"_ Leon's voice was seething with absolute rage, Naminé felt a little scared for herself, _"I'll drag you there **myself.** You **disgust** me, you worthless girl!"_

Naminé choked on a fake sob, wiping away some fake tears as Larxene rushed forward to place her hands on Leon's chest, which Cloud growled about. Naminé snickered quietly, but tried to pass it off as a sniffle. Larxene stuck her tongue out at Cloud, enraging him more.

_"Husband! Are you mad? This is our daughter!"_

_"Good father,"_ Naminé begged, and she could hear some of the audience crying along with her, gasping as well. She had it in the bag, _"I'm begging you. Please be patient and listen to me!"_

 _"No. Forget you, you disobedient wench. Go to the church on Thursday, or never look me in the face again. Don't speak to me. I will not reply."_ Naminé raised her face to look Leon in the eyes, and she saw his face soften but his tone remained the same, _"I feel like **slapping** you. I was always thought we were blessed for having a child, but now I see that one is far too many. She disgusts me, this stupid slut!"_

"Crap, guys, who wants to play the nurse?" Marluxia said, before sighing and saying, "Okay, I'll do it." He flicked through the pages of his book before reciting, _"My lord, you are wrong to berate her so."_

Leon's next line made everyone laugh, _"Am I? Really? Shut up, old woman."_

This is why Naminé liked drama, you could insult someone and not get punished for it, even teachers.

 _"You're getting too angry,"_ 'Lady Capulate murmured.

 _"God dammit, of course I'm getting angry! My top priority has always been to find her husband! Now I've provided a husband from a noble family. He's young, he's good-looking, he's polite, and well educated. He's the man of every girl's dreams!"-_ to which Roxas rudely interrupted and said 'Like Reno is _any_ of those things', receiving a snort from Marluxia before mock-scowled at Roxas- _"But this wretched wench says 'I'm too young. I can't fall in love. I can't get married. Sorry'. Well you can excuse yourself. Fine. But you're no daughter of mine. If you don't act like my daughter, you can beg and starve in the streets. I swear on my soul that I will never take you back or do anything for you. Believe me, I won't break this promise."_

And then Leon hopped off the stage, receiving a large round of applause from everyone in the theatre.

Naminé collapsed to the floor, sobbing but making sure her words were understandable, _"Why can't anyone see that I'm **dying** inside? Mother, mother, please don't throw me out. Please delay the marriage, or make it so my wedding bed is next to that of my dead cousin."_

Larxene looked down at the shuddering, blubbering blond mess on the floor and scoffed, _"Don't talk to me. I'm **done** worrying about you."_

Larxene's exit earned the tall blond another round of applause.

Naminé latched onto Marluxia's pant legs, thoroughly surprising the teacher, who hadn't expected Naminé to go so far, _"Nurse, nurse. My husband is still alive. How am I supposed to break those vows? Give me comfort. Give me advice. Why does the world **hate** me? Please, give me some comfort."_

Marluxia sighed before saying, _"This is what I can say; Romeo has been banished. But I am sure he will come back to challenge Paris. I'm sorry to say, I think the best thing to do would be to marry Paris. He's a lovely man! Romeo is trash compared to him."_ Roxas scoffed, making Marluxia and Naminé smile, _"I think you would be happier in this second marriage, because it is better for you than the first. Even if Romeo is better than Paris, your first marriage is already over."_

_"Are you speaking from your heart?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Fine then,"_ Naminé got up and brushed herself off, _"tell my mother I am gone. I made my father angry, so tell her that I have gone to Friar Lawrence for confession."_

" _Alright."_ Marluxia patted Naminé's head, _"I think this is a good idea."_

And then the lights faded, and the entire auditorium burst into applause, "Naminé, you were incredible," Marluxia praised her, before thinking of something. "You know what; I think you should complete the beginning of that scene, with Roxas."

There was a loud shriek from the audience, but Xion was going unnoticed. Naminé panicked. That had a kissing scene in it.

_Well, if worst comes to worst, he can kiss me on the cheek._

"Roxy, get up here. It'd be cool to start the scene from the beginning."

The lights dimmed over the couple and when they came on again, Roxas was standing at the bottom of the stage while Naminé was leaning at the very edge of it, trying to mirror the balcony scene, _"Do you really have to go, Romeo? It was the nightingale you heard this morning, not the lark. There's no need for fear. There's still so much time before daybreak."_ While Naminé was saying these words, she traced her hand down Roxas' cheek, tracing the back of her knuckles against his cheek, as a lover would.

Roxas' clear blue eyes locked on hers as he answered, _"It was the lark, my dear Juliet. Look at the sky, my darling, I'm running out of time. If I wish to live, I must go now."_

 _"Silly Romeo. That isn't daybreak, that's meteor light to guide your way to Mantua. So stay a little longer,"_ Naminé tried to convey as much emotion as possible into begging Roxas to stay, as if she would never see him again, _"Please?"_

Roxas chuckled as he weaved his hair through Naminé's, and a tingling of electricity passed through her skin, heating her from the inside out, _"Let me be captured, and let me be put to death. I am content; if that's the way you want it. The light of the sky isn't daybreak; it's the reflection of the moon. I want to stay more than I want to go. Come death, and welcome, because Juliet wills it so!"_ Naminé laughed breathily, pressing her forehead to Roxas'. She could feel the heat radiating off his skin. _"Let's talk, my love. It's not daylight yet."_

 _"It is,"_ Naminé sighed, and she tried to fight of a coming tear, her breath hitching as if she was going to cry again, _"Get out of here. Begone! The lark sings so out of tune. It's supposed to be a sweet division between day and night, but it is not beautiful because it separates us. It tears us out of each other's arms, and now there will be men hunting us. Go now, I see more light."_

 _"More light,"_ Roxas murmured, _"more pain for us."_

 _"Madam,"_ Marluxia interrupted.

_"Yes?"_

_"Your mother is coming. Day has broken. Be careful and watch out."_

Marluxia left the scene. Roxas popped up from beneath the stage, _"The window lets light in, and life goes out the window."_

 _"Farewell, farewell…"_ Roxas trailed off, and Naminé thought he had forgotten his lines.

"Um, Roxas, you're supposed to say, 'Give me one kiss-'," but before Naminé could finish her line (which was technically supposed to be Roxas') Romeo leant forward and pressed his lips against hers sweetly. Electricity washed through her body as they contacted, but she panicked and pushed herself back, pushing him away.

She couldn't believe it…

Roxas had just _kissed_ her!

Her _best friend_. Since… since who knows when.

And he had a _girlfriend!_

And she was sitting _right there!_

And she saw them.

A million motions were going through their head at the same time, but they were so shell-shocked that they just continued with the lines.

 _"I must hear from you,"_ Naminé murmured, but her voice didn't convey as much emotion as before. She still sounded shocked.

 _"Farewell… I won't miss my chance to send my love to you…"_ and Roxas didn't sound any better.

 _"Do you think we'll ever meet again?"_ she whispered.

_"Of course. All of these troubles will give us stories to tell each other later in life."_

_"I have soul that predicts bad things,"_ she laughed humourlessly as Roxas started stepping back slowly, _"You look like you lie at the bottom of a tomb. You look pale."_

 _"You look pale to me too, my love. Sadness takes away your colour. Goodbye, my beautiful_ Naminé- Shit! I meant; _Juliet."_

She flushed uncomfortably, and there was a round of hesitant applause (like, three people) before it slowly died out and Naminé placed her head in her hands.

Marluxia had to break the tense atmosphere, "Alright that was some good work there people. Practice your lines. I'll see you tomorrow. You're dismissed."

Naminé looked up, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. With one action, Roxas had just ruined absolutely _everything_ they had.

Marluxia waited until the rest of the students had gone, and asked Naminé if she was alright. She nodded her head and made her way out of the theatre robotically. Leon was waiting for her outside, "Do you want a ride home?"

She contemplated it before nodding and following him out to the parking lot.

Just when everything had seemed to be going her way, everything came crashing down.


	17. Denial

**Nami POV~**

I sat on the banister of my balcony, wondering what I should do about this situation. On one hand, Roxas was just acting. Romeo and Juliet were supposed to kiss at that moment, weren't they? It's what actors do, it's what _we_ did, because we were in drama class… acting… with his _girlfriend_ watching. So far, the only pleasure I'd derived from this entire _week_ of dodging class and punching out the lights of anyone that dared mention the rumours about me and Roxas circulating as a couple.

We were _acting_ for Chrissakes. Were actors always subjected to this stupid scrutiny? There was nothing going on between me and Roxas, _Hell_ the thought didn't even cross my mind until he pushed forward, pressing soft and slow and sensually against my lips, fingers near my ear leaving licks of fire where they brushed my skin and- _No!_ It didn't feel like that at all! It was clammy and weird and awkward, not _enjoyable_ in the slightest ( _liar_ ) SHUT UP MIND! I can make my own decisions, and I decided that kissing Roxas, especially with his girlfriend watching _did NOT_ feel like fireworks, heat flooding my brain as his shy tongue ran across the seam between my lips… DAMMIT NAMINÉ, STOP THINKING LIKE THAT!

I hugged my middle, looking down and realising I was wearing one of Roxas' hoodies.

Oh, who am I kidding? Roxas was a great kisser.

**Believe Me, I'm Lying**

Denial

As soon as the door to Roxas' apartment rattled, I hopped over the railings between our balconies and stormed into his apartment, shocked to see Cloud instead of Roxas.

"Aww _dammit!_ " I slapped my forehead in frustration, immediately going to Roxas' fridge where I knew he kept the kept the chocolate milk. Well duh, where else are you going to put milk in a house? Isn't the fridge the resident place of cold things?

"Nice to see you too," Cloud drawled lamely, because he is a lame ass, and I can't believe I ever had a crush on him! Isn't he supposed to be supportive of his little brother's best friend? Haha, and then I looked over and remembered why, Cloud looked smoking hot, even if he was in a normal pair of jeans and a t-shirt that said 'Property of Leon'.

"Damn Leon, possessive much?"

Cloud looked down at his attire before shrugging, "We were drunk, it was either this shirt, or a tattoo."

"Ah, I see what he did there," I laughed before banging my head into the fridge door. "Ah, fuck that hurt."

"Seriously?" Cloud rolled his eyes, looking at the watch in his hands. "C'mon, tell me what's wrong."

"Why do you care?" I whined, because it's what I do and I'm good at it, oh, and Cloud showing concern is something that's odd and should be avoided at all costs. There was this one time that he tried to pat me on the back, and he ended up sticking a sign to my back saying 'Hooker notes go in the back pocket'. There were guys trying to feel me up the entire day until Roxas told me about the sign. For being such a stoic bastard, Cloud was good with his pranks.

"Because I need something to whine about on my blog," he replied, knowing full well that I knew he liked to use the internet as _little_ as possible. Silly Cloud.

"You know where Roxas is?" I asked, pouting because sometimes it worked on him. This time it did. Cloud is a mellow, complacent guy, something close to a pushover, so convincing him to tell me where his little brother was hiding out was easy. Cloud grabbed a backpack of something he was picking up and showed me out the door.

"We're staying at Leon's place. His parents are out, so it's alright for you to go."

"Awesomeness. I've never been to Leon's house. What were you picking up?"

"Sex toys."

"Eww! Why did you tell me that?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to. I was kidding by the way, they're Roxas' clothes."

"Well then just leave them here, I'm gonna try and get him back."

"Really?" Cloud rolled his eyes, "You're gonna try and bring him back, even though he's been going to school diligently and tracking down all your hang spots just to find you?"

"Aww, he's been doing that for me?"

"And leaving behind Xion in the wake, do you know how persistent that girl is? If she shows up at Leon's property once more, he threatened to shoot her off."

"Owow, I didn't know Leon would do that, he sounds like the kind of guy that would turn on the sprinklers."

"Seriously Nam? Been there done that, sprinklers, eggs, toilet paper, dogs, the whole lot. She won't go away."

Now Leon was the mayor's son, so he was filthy rich. He was going to Destiny Islands school of Creative Arts because he can play piano like a man possessed; also he's pretty good with literary works and photography. He could also run with the modelling business whenever he wanted. Dammit! Stupid hot men were everywhere.

Speak of the she-devil.

"Oh, Cloud! You've got to let me in!" Xion was at the gate of the Leonhart Mansion when Naminé turned up on the back of Cloud's motorbike.

"Ah, why?" he asked her.

"Because I know Roxas is staying here and he won't answer my calls or emails and-IT'S _YOU!_ "

"Yes, it's me~" I replied in a sing song voice, pressing the tips of my fingers into my collarbone and generally just acting like a pansy. I rolled my eyes and hopped off the bike as Cloud answered the video phone, getting out of the camera's way.

"Hey, Lee," Cloud said into the intercom.

_"Where are Roxas' clothes?"_

"Nam's here, and she said he wouldn't need them."

_"Oh good, make-up sex makes everything better."_

"WHAT WAS THAT?"Xion screeched and I lazily flipped her the bird when the bitch shot me a I-will-dig-out-your-eyeballs-with-a-teaspoon look.

"Goodie, open up then."

_"Oh, and Xion? Get off my property before I call the police."_

She screamed in irritation, but it was rather faint because Cloud and I were already zooming down the two kilometres to Leon's estate. When the brunet opened the door I bade a quick hello before asking him to direct me in the direction of spiky-haired Romeos.

I flounced effortlessly to Leon's game room, sneaking up behind the couch to rip out Roxas' earphones.

"Hey! What's the-?... Naminé…" he murmured, looking at her with wide eyes before he rolled off the couch and made to sprint away. She quickly tugged out his earphones and waved his iPod in the air.

"You will _stay_ here and talk to me, or else I will keep this."

"So? I can buy a new one!" he exclaimed.

"So help me God Roxas, I will sell it to the DI press and blog that your guilty pleasure is listening to Justin Bieber."

 _"Fine!"_ he growled. "We'll talk."


	18. Confession

"Alright, so here's the deal."

"Go on."

"I will trade four Mars bars, for that entire packet of gingerbread."

" _Roxas!_ What the fuck? That doesn't even have anything to do with the situation at hand."

"It doesn't? Oh it doesn't."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Oh my god, Roxas, are you stalling?"

"Oh my god, Naminé, you actually think I'm stalling? By talking like this? Speaking about nothing, as if I was _trying_ to stall you."

"Roxas."

"I mean, why would I have any need to stall you? Because I'm no good at stalling-"

"Roxas."

"Otherwise they'd call me Stally McStallerton, or 'Roxas, that guy that's good at stalling people"

"Roxas!"

"I mean why would a staller stall using stalling as a topic of conversation? They could use something like soda, or cows-"

"ROXAS! Sit down!"

"Make me!"

She waved the iPod in his face and he poked his tongue out at her before falling onto the couch with a fwump.

"That's right! Kneel bitch."

He rolled his eyes and pulled her by the hand so that she landed on top of him, foreheads knocking gently as she landed in his lap.

_Um… GULP much?_

**Believe Me, I'm Lying**

Confession

"Hey, Naminé, I am sexually attracted to you. Go out with me please?" he asked her, keeping a straight face as he asked the question. There was _no_ hint at whether he was kidding or being serious or not, so how was she supposed to read him. Normally, she was really good at telling whether people were lying or not, and normally she would have read his facial features and seen someone that was telling the truth, but it was so uncharacteristic of Roxas she was beginning to doubt herself.

"So… am I lying or not?"

"Um…" she murmured, unsure how to respond, mostly because their groins were in close proximity and her chest was pressed up against his own while his voice blew over her lips in warm puffs. "What's the point of this?"

"Answer the question," he demanded.

"No offence, Rox, but I thought you were gay," she joked, trying to alleviate the growing tension between them, but Roxas just hiked his legs up further, making her fall further into the cradle of his legs.

"Naminé. Tell me whether you can read through the shield."

At first it seemed a little cryptic, of course, she had always been able to tell whether Roxas was lying, but… he was being so… unpredictable. She wasn't sure if she could.

"What are you going to do if I say 'no'?" she murmured, pressing her forehead against his again.

"I'm going to dump Xion, and ask you to marry me."

It was an amusing answer, but she was still so confused, so she continued, "And 'yes'?"

"Things can go back to the way that they were before," he replied, but there was a flicker of something she didn't want to recognise in his eyes. She didn't care, she knew her answer. She also understood what Roxas was doing, but she just wasn't ready to believe that truth yet.

"What if I say I can't tell you?"

"I'll be intrigued," he answered.

"Roxas," she smiled in a sultry manner, batting her eyes, "I'm sexually attracted to you, go out with me please?"

He grinned, placing his forehead down in the crook of her shoulder, laughter sending ripples of mirth across her skin. They stayed still like that for a while, his hot breath fanning over her skin while her breathy laughter tickled his ear, something so sensual and intimate about the moment they weren't sure how to react.

"If I say 'yes'?" he asked her, pressing kisses into the side of her neck.

"Well then I make hot, hot love to you on this sofa," she joked, but he seemed satisfied with the answer. "We keep our relationship a secret and continue to bullshit our friends."

"And 'no'?"

"I dunno… say it and find out."

"No," he replied instantly, curious as to what she was going to do.

"Alright," she said, rolling to her side and falling into the cushiness of the couch, "well then we stay friends and remember that this never happened."

"That is probably the most reasonable solution," he deadpanned, which confused the heck out of her because he was just acting so confusing today, but then again, she'd gone along with his little game, because she was just so enthralled by blossoming possibilities.

Leon and Cloud popped their heads into the lounge room a moment later, malicious smirks on their faces, "Let me just take the time to thank you for not having sex on my sofa, my mom would have killed me."

"Were you two listening into the entire conversation?" Roxas asked, seemingly not as mortified as Naminé was.

"More or less," the evil brother replied.

"You're welcome then," the younger blond male answered, smiling as he closed Naminé's hanging jaw. The two left them in the lounge room in silence, but it wasn't awkward, it was the silence you hear before Naminé has choking fits. When she was done, she flopped her head onto Roxas' lap.

"Are we cool?" she asked him.

"Yeah we're cool," he smiled, running his fingers through her hair.

"Oh, and you better ring Xion back… she's under the impression that we're having sex."


	19. Difficult

Alright, she had to think _very_ carefully now. All things considered. Naminé had been able to guess and dig at Roxas' emotions and secret meaning behind his words since they were very little children but now…

In truth, his message had been very simple:

'Naminé, I am possibly considering having a crush on you.'

Gods. Roxas was _into_ her.

In his own weird way, Roxas had just confessed to her.

He was also very concerned that Naminé was losing the ability to read him like the rest of the world couldn't.

_"So… am I lying or not?"_

**Our relationship dynamic is changing. Can you tell?**

What if she couldn't?

_"Naminé. Tell me whether you can read through the shield."_

**Naminé, what are you to me now?**

What if the fact that she was starting to lose her ability to read him, was starting to distance them in a way? _No..._ she didn't want that at all.

_"What are you going to do if I say 'no'?"_

**Are you still going to be my friend if I said I couldn't read you anymore?**

_"I'm going to dump Xion, and ask you to marry me."_

**No, you're still my friend no matter what.**

_"Alright, well then we stay friends and pretend that this never happened."_

But, c'mon, this was _Roxas._ He was unpredictable, mysterious and he was _always_ lying.

Do you know how he got together with Xion? Olette was hackling him for a date and he grabbed Xion out of nowhere and asked her to go to the amusement park. So, he'd gotten together with Xion because she was the closest girl apart from Naminé on the scene. He kept her around so that he wasn't asked out by other random girls, plus she wasn't as annoying as the other chicks following him. But now she was starting to show that 'jealous girlfriend' side, and Roxas hadn't even had sex with her, so Naminé wondered why she was taking this all so seriously.

Couldn't Xion tell that Roxas just wasn't that into her?

Screw that.

_Why couldn't **I** tell that Roxas was into **me?**_

Despite telling Roxas that she was cool with the entire situation, that she didn't mind that he had a crush on her… Oh god. She'd just _rejected_ him! She'd accidentally said that it would be better to stay friends! Wait a second! Why did she _care?_

Why does everything have to be so complicated?

**Believe Me, I'm Lying**

_Difficult_

Okay, so Roxas' conversation before had been a little confusing, and even _Axel_ would have difficulties understanding what had ha-… AXEL!

He'd know what to do!

Axel's family were _hoarders._ The design of such an establishment was a messy, contorted mess, but that's what Naminé had always loved about their home. Plus, sneaking in undetected was easy. All she had to do was climb the side gate and vault onto Reno's balcony, which he always kept open so that he could sneak in after a night of binge drinking. Cloud had told her about the secret access way, saying that he used it whenever he and Reno went clubbing.

Sneaking past Reno's room was always hell, because there was always some odd thing growing fungi somewhere or smelling like absolute shit. If it wasn't eighteen-day-old pizza it was blown up condoms hanging from the ceiling. She rolled her eyes. This time, there was a concoction in a glass of water made up of the leftovers from someone's Thai meal.

She was getting out of Reno's room just as said red head was going in. He gave her a salute and a tired wave before calling down the hall, "Axe, Nami's here."

"I'm in the game room!"

She plopped herself down on the couch and immediately picked up one of the PS3's controllers, because there was nothing as therapeutic as a few rounds of zombie annihilation. As they mashed away at buttons she whined her problem's into Axel's shoulder.

"Okay, so I can see your problem."

"Alright!" she cheered, immediately followed by a scream as one of the zombies snuck up on her and she turned her character around, hacking at its brain with an AK47. "So what do I do about it?"

"Nothing," Axel replied, which earned him an immediate bonk on the head from her controller.

"What do you mean _'nothing'?_ " she snarled, bangs flopping in front of her eyes, "if you'd been paying attention even a _smidge_ for the last ten minutes, then you'd note that Roxas actually _confessed_ to me!"

"God, Naminé, I heard you," he sighed in exasperation. "Why do girls always have to make such a big deal out of these things?"

"What do you mean?" the little blond growled, "How'd you like it if Roxas confessed to you?"

"Well then I'd take his sweet ass and pound it into the mattress."

 _"AXEL!"_ she whined, pummelling him with her fists, but she started laughing halfway through, knowing that Axel was just trying to make her feel better, and it was working. "Why aren't you helping me?"

"Naminé," the red-head paused the game and turned to her, placing the controller on the coffee table. "I say leave it alone because Roxas isn't sure what he wants yet. I know, he's always seemed to have a little bit of a crush on you, and that's what keeps him away, but now seeing you as Juliet, and this sudden friendship that you've sprung up with Vanitas-"

"For the love of God, Vanitas is _gay!_ "

"-has Roxas riled up because he's finding himself _jealous_ and infatuated with you. You have to calm down, pretend it never happened, and give him some time. Have you thought about your feelings towards Roxas?"

"Umm…" she looked down at her lap nervously, shaking her head.

"Well then, you should do that. How can you say Roxas having a crush on you is the worst thing in the world?"

"Because _Xion_ is his _girlfriend,_ you prick."

"Don't mind her. She is the last thing on Roxas' mind."

"Well," Naminé gloated, "I will admit that is a pleasant thing to hear."

"I agree," Axel smirked, green eyes twinkling mischievously. "Now, get your act together. Round six is about to start, and if you get mauled by zombies I am _not_ going to revive you this time."


	20. Exam

**Nami POV~**

So I was following Axel's advice… well not entirely. In a way, I was avoiding Roxas as much as I could without _seeming_ like I was avoiding him. He was also acting like the little incident with the… scripting… and the… rehearsals… had not happened, which was good, because if he kept bringing it up I'd be tempted to do his face in. I was on edge, but I didn't smoke or do drugs like the average troubled teenager (I know, I'm horrible with my generalisations (but that's only if you're living on the wrong side of Destiny Isle)) so what I did was draw in someone else's company. The other person was required so I had someone to bitch to, and today's victim was Vanitas, who was joining me in my next music class, which I didn't share with Roxy. Boo hoo right? Well, I wasn't exactly thinking about it like that at the moment, if anything, I felt relief because of the separation.

What did that say about me?

"It says you're a horrible friend," Vanitas replied, continuing to adjust the tunage of his guitar. Haha. 'Tunage' is not a word, I've just been watching too much _Stoked_.

Well, apparently Vani had just gained the power of telepathy.

That or…

"You were saying your words out loud again," he drawled, strumming softly and taking a bite out of his snack wrap, golden eyes never looking up from his instrument. The both of us were currently under a tree on the side of the oval nearest to the forest. If I hadn't dragged him off, Vanitas would still be in an equally isolated part of the school, because anti-sociallism is just so charming isn't it?

"You're losing your touch Namine. Isn't that something to be a little worried about?"

Of course it was, but not at this moment. Something was meddling with her head… and that something was…

"Love."

" _What?"_ I hissed, because really, I couldn't figure out when our conversation's ended and his telepathy started.

"See what love does to you?" he looked at her through the thin curtain of dark hair, golden eyes glowing, "It fucks up your head."

"I'm not in love," I reply indignantly, though the words taste like soot in my mouth.

"Mhmm, and Xemnas isn't a pedophile."

"Oh _come on._ That's just not fair!"

**Believe Me, I'm Lying**

_Exam_

"I'm not."

"Are too."

" _No,_ I am not getting into this argument, Vanitas. I am a mature adult and can avoid doing that."

"' _Mature adult'?_ Are you _kidding me_?" he snorted, placing his guitar down.

"Well, I try."

"No you _don't_ ," he rolled his eyes, "you have got to be one of the most immature people I have…" And cue Ventus and Terra walking past with their soccer uniforms on, sweaty and exhausted from practice. Vanitas' eyes roamed over Ven's body like a hungry wolf's, like the way that Naminé stared at the new Assassin's Creed game. "I have… I have…" His mouth was opening and closing, but Naminé didn't hear any voice coming out. Of course, even the ever witty Vanitas had to be stunted by something sometimes.

"Give me your guitar," Naminé demanded.

"No," Was his immediate answer even though he was very busy ( _very_ busy) admiring Ventus' body.

"Do it or I'll make a scene."

"Go ahead."

 _"Ventus!"_ Naminé screeched, instantly gaining the blond's attention, " _Vanitas wants into your p-!"_ she couldn't even finish 'pants' when the black-haired students tackled her and slammed his hand over his mouth.

"Penthouse!" Vanitas finished for her. "You've got a really cool apartment, Ven."

Ven raised his eyebrow and gave him an awkward thumbs up that made Vanitas' face flush with embarrassment. When the both of them were almost out of ear range, she burst out into a fit of giggles while Vani face-planted into the ground. She rocked herself up, patting him on the back. "See? It's too hard to keep your _devastating_ crush locked inside! Skip around Vanitas, kiss people, wear a crown of flowers."

"No, no and _no!_ " he refused, shaking his head, shaking Naminé's shoulders.

"Well you've got to get his attention somehow, let's evaluate the talents you have which could possibly impress him. You're good a music… Alright, I'm lost."

"You flatter me," he replied dryly.

"Oh c'mon Vani, how is _anyone_ going to find that sarcastic attitude appealing?"

"Roxas did."

She raised her eyebrow at him, "What are you getting at?"

"Face the facts Naminé, the only reason we get along so well, is because we think too similarly. Roxas used to think like you and I, but then something changed and the both of you started to drift apart and become more attracted to each other. In order to figure out how to fix the problem, you've got to figure out where it started."

"Axel said it wasn't a problem," I murmured.

"Yes, but do _you_ believe that? The fact that the both of you are so similar is also a problem in most relationships, but being too different and the relationship could fall apart all by itself."

"You and Ven are _worlds_ apart," I narrowed my eyes.

"Yeah, but I'm backing on the 'opposites attract' view."

"Well…" I murmured, "What stereotype do Roxas and I fall under?"

"Several," he admitted, "you fall under so many dilemmas that your life belongs in some creepy teenaged novel. Think about it; childhood friends, boy dating a girl that the best girl friend doesn't like, Bonnie and Clyde, girl has a crush on the best boy friend's brother, ecetera…"

"Alright," Naminé sighed, flopping onto the grass, "with that, I will not argue."


	21. Cupcakes

“Aww, shit,” Naminé slumped in her spinny head-girl chair, papers flying over the floor in her over dramatic flourish. Today she was working with the event committee for the Destiny Islands Academy School Festival, and do you know what she’d just found out? They needed to _raise_ the money _themselves!_ To raise the amount of money that they needed, they were going to have to pull off at least three different fund-raising events. The head of the event committee was Aqua Cato, Zexion’s older sister. Zexion was a shy bookish junior who was best friend’s with Demyx. Yes, don’t you _dare_ ask her how that happened because she will never be able to tell you. It must have been something like a collision course, which was totally plausible if you shoved Demyx into the equation.

Aqua had a gentle presence about her that was forceful as well (she reminded her of Olette’s half-sister, Aerith Gainsborough, who was dating Xion’s cousin, Zack Fair, who used to date Cloud Strife, who- Oh you get the picture) and she sounded like she was getting tired of Naminé’s pissed-off attitude. Luckily for Naminé, she’d noticed and decided to tone down her brattiness.

“What’s wrong now?”

“Did you know that we had to raise the funds for the festival ourselves?”

“Yes,” she nodded, seemingly as calm as ever. “I’ve already got a few options.”

“Alright,” Naminé grinned, “hit me!”

“Bake sale.”

“What else you got?”

“Car wash?”

“Not bad, but keep going.”

“I’m not sure about this one… but it’s putting one of DIA’s best attributes to use,” Aqua said, moving her sheet of paper in Naminé’s direction. The blond head-girl smirked, eyes narrowing deviously.

“This is the best one; we’ll save it for last. Damn, Aqua, great minds think alike, I rekon.”

**Believe me, I’m Lying**

Plans for Cupcakes

So, aside from plans involving baked goods and hot guys (but she’d save that for later, don’t want to worry about something right now) she also had to deal with homework, study and rehearsal, which she wasn’t looking forward to at the moment.

Naminé was currently sitting cross-legged in one of the back seats of the theatre sitting next to Ven who was tutoring her in algebra. They were getting ready for rehearsals. Although, in ninth grade when she had actually cared about listening to her teachers, it had actually been her favourite part of her most hated subject, now it was being a bitch. Of course, was algebra ever going to be used in a real life situation?

_I ask this all the time in accordance to anything that I learn and hate learning about._

The blond also found herself repeating words many times in the same thought sentence, which was bad because it just proved she wasn’t paying enough attention to her grades.  

“Who’s idea was it to put _fractions_ and _square routes_ in algebra, if you ask me, it was already hard enough with the brackets and division anyway.”

“It’s your fault really, not bothering to learn your times tables when you had the chance,” Ventus grinned, flicking Naminé’s forehead.

“I suppose you’re right, and I wish I could say I don’t regret it, but I do! I just _so_ couldn’t be bothered at the time.”

“You and Roxas both,” the blond rolled his eyes, and the thought of Roxas made Naminé look between the two cousins who might as well have been twins. They were almost identical, but Ven had a bit of a rounder face and brighter eyes that were a lighter shade in colour. He was also a little less lean that Roxas, not unfit, it’s just that while Ven had turned to soccer, Roxas had turned to parkour, and those were two totally different sports making their bodies change in different ways. “Except he took the time to learn them in seventh grade at least. You’re a sophomore now and you _still_ don’t know them?”

“Shut up, Ven!”

He grinned, the smile lighting up his entire face. It was true, he was just naturally _brighter_ than Roxas. While the darker-haired blond was a sullen little bitch, Ven was very optimistic, kind of like Sora.

“Look here, the problem is that you’re looking at the fractions all wrong, replace the line between the numerator and the denominator with a division sign and then go on from there. BODMAS remember? Or do you not?”

“I’m not an idiot,” she snapped, “Brackets Of Division, Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction.”

“Good, they should be a little easier. Twice as easy if you bothered to learn your times tables.”

“Your services are no longer needed,” she replied, shooing him off, but she grabbed his hand before he could leave. “Wait a second!”

“What?” he regarded her curiously… as one would a lunatic.  

“Ven, I need to ask you what you think of Vanitas.”

“Well?” he grinned.

“Well what?”

“Are you _going_ to ask me what I think of Vanitas? You just told me you needed to ask me, you didn’t actually ask me.”

“You know what?” she narrowed her eyes, smirking, “I think Vanitas is rubbing off on you.”

“No he’s not!”

She rolled her eyes. The truth is that Ventus and Vanitas started off as enemies, they absolutely hated each other. Somewhere last year, they were stuck together for one of their music projects and bada-bing, bata-boom, Vanitas’ hate turned to love. Unfortunately, it was a one-sided thing and now the black-haired boy found himself pining over a guy that hated his guts.

“Well,” the sandy-haired boy admitted, “he’s sarcastic, rude and selfish, narcissistic and I have a feeling that when you two were talking yesterday, you weren’t actually speaking about my ‘penthouse’, but… Vanitas isn’t that bad a guy.” He shrugged, “Well, you like him, so I guess he can be okay.”

“Okay enough to date?” she asked.

Ventus flushed, looking down, “No. H-He’s not my type.” And then he abruptly ran off before she could do anything. Damn.

Well… at least she had one solid piece of information; Ventus was _definitely_ attracted to Vanitas too.


	22. Sweet As Sugar

**Rox POV**

Alright, to say things had been… _peachy_ wouldn’t have been the right word- downright _lying_ actually. That’s why I’m saying they are, because… well, I’m a liar, and liars do that stuff. Yeah…

If it wasn’t obvious, I’m also a staller too. Not a good one, but a staller nonetheless, that’s why I was standing in front of Naminé’s apartment wondering if I should knock on it. It would be cake to simply leave her be to make those stupid idiotic noises behind her door.

It sounded like she was having sex.

I hoped she wasn’t having sex.

How was I supposed to put this in simpler terms? I didn’t see Naminé as a friend anymore. In fact it was hard to think of her as anyone _but_ possible girlfriend material.

Naminé didn’t believe in love.

She knew of my stupid little crush, but she thought it would be a good idea to keep it as friends between us, which I told her I was totally okay with.

I lied.

Of course.

But… wouldn’t it be a better idea to leave it alone, before it developed into something I couldn’t control?

Yeah…

It was for the best.

**Believe Me, I’m Lying**

_Sweet As Sugar_

So Naminé had been avoiding me as of late, without actually _seeming_ like she was avoiding me. I could tell. Don’t ask me how, I just could. And it made me feel… _uneasy._ Whenever I went to run after Naminé someone like Xion would distract me.

I like Xion…

Well, _liked_ would have been a better word. She was fine until she decided that Naminé, as my best friend, would better act as a personal punching bag, and I’ve tried to tell her that I disapprove of her behaviour, but apparently, she brings out the worst in Naminé as well.

The same time someone started spreading the rumour that Naminé and I were together, someone else spread the rumour that Xion and I broke up… which I suppose we had, in a sense, but I hadn’t got a chance to speak to her when I was hiding in shame.

I’m such a coward.

I raised my hand up to knock, because it didn’t feel right to use Naminé’s spare apartment key (which she hid in the corner of the painting opposite her door). I paused another moment, wondering whether I should just give up the entire notion of visiting her. She was pretty busy with the fundraiser for the Festival… so she couldn’t have been having sex, could she?

I groaned, hitting my head against the door before knocking on it, cursing my hand and wishing I could chop it off when Naminé answered the door, covered in –not paint- but cake mix and sprinkles.

“Perfect timing!” she declared, grabbing my wrist and hauling me inside with a strength he didn’t know she had. She pointed at the oven, and then pouted at me, expecting me to do something about it, “It won’t work Roxy. Can you fix it?”

So I take it all those sex noises were actually Naminé beating the oven to death?

What a relief.

I answered before I was even aware of what I’d done. I slipped into a state of familiarity that felt comfortable and easy, and the smile came ever faster, “It’s not broken, you’re just an idiot.” For a second I thought that I might have crossed the boundaries, that she might be getting annoyed at me, and would blow up at me like Xion normally did whenever I wasn’t being an attentive boyfriend, but sometimes I forgot; Naminé was Naminé, cooler that most people I knew. She saw things the way I did. We thought the same, and she wouldn’t have been offended by such a pathetic comment. No, it would take a lot more than that to bring Naminé Fleuret to her knees.

“I beg to differ!” she replied, in a tone of mock-shock, pretending that she had actually been offended by the comment. It had taken her a little bit of time to respond, and I could see the momentary flicker of doubt in her eyes as she moved. She was unsure of our relationship as well, trying to understand what she was supposed to do right now. I could see that she was afraid her hesitance –but any normal person wouldn’t have been able to pick up on it- would insult me, but her sincerity… unfortunately, just reminded me why I crushed on her so badly.

With a brief flicker of knobs I pressed on the ignition, and the oven burst to life in a gust of heated air and the odd smell of cooking gas. I looked at her smugly, watching as she dunked the spatula in the cake mix and flung it at me. It splattered against my shirt, collarbone and neck, but I was too shocked by it to properly respond for about thirty seconds.

“Dammit bitch,” my voice was a growl, but my lips turned up in a smirk as I dunked my hand in some unknown pink substance, “you’re going down!”

She ducked over the island in the middle of her kitchen and slid across the top for shelter, taking a bag of ingredients with her. When I ran around I was assaulted with a sackful of flower, powder brown erupting before my eyes as I hacked on chocolate chips.

“Roxas! Watch where you’re g-” it was too late to warn me as my sneaker slipped on a smashed egg and I skidded into her fridge, rocking it once before moving to slip once again, landing on the floor this time. Her chime-like laugh echoed throughout the kitchen, and before I could stop myself, I was joining her.

When the flour cleared, I saw that I wasn’t the only one affected by the sack attack, the powdered chocolate covered her hair and skin as well. She crawled over to me, completely forgetting about my infatuation as she wiped the mix from my eyes with her finger, popping it into her mouth to analyse the taste.

“Ah, this was the brownie mix,” she giggled, crying out as I shook my hair like a wet dog, flour spraying her with an extra payer of the sweet powder. We started laughing again, a sound that I hadn’t heard in a bit of time. It felt like it had been ages since we’d spent time like this.

“Okay, I give. What in Ifrit’s name are you doing?”

She reached behind her to grab a box, pointing the brownie packet, “Bake sale. The members of the meeting that you skipped out on yesterday have to choose what we’re selling, so we’re making the samplers.”

“I didn’t skip out on it. I was rehearsing as Rom…” I decided not to finish the sentence, as it just brought up awkward memories he’d rather not relive. He watched as her breath hitched as well before she looked away, a fake smile plastered to her face as she got up, quickly dumping the cake mixture into the oven.

“Ah, okay. Well… then come tomorrow, and help me with these bloody foodstuffs!” she shouted, trying to make it sound more like a demand than a plea. He could understand the need for some sanity right now.

I laughed as she smeared some cake mix across my cheek, watching as her blue eyes lit up with mischief, “Okay, but only because you’d be hopeless without me.”

“Yeah,” she answered, tilting her head as her eyes closed into happy arches, “I would.” 


	23. Better By Far

**Nam POV~**

So I’d been hiding out on the rooftop of our apartment block ever since I came from school. I did a mighty fine job of embarrassing myself out there today… making Roxas choose between Xion and I… what was I thinking? Of course he would choose Xion, I just _rejected_ him a few days ago! I feel rather selfish… I shouldn’t think myself so entitled after I made Roxas feel like shit. I can understand how he feels now.

What was he supposed to do? I hope he didn’t feel guilty that he had humiliated me in front of the entire kitchen… I was being unreasonable. This was one of the reasons why I was getting worried about our relationship; we just kept on hitting barrier after barrier. What happened to those good old days when we could read each other like well-worn books?

I… I didn’t know what to do.

**Believe Me, I’m Lying**

_Better by Far_

“Naminé!”

Roxas and I lived near the top floor of the apartment complex, and I’d left my balcony door open, so I screamed my response so Roxas could hear me.

“I’m on the roof!”

He was up there less than a minute later, panting, sweaty and gorgeous. Oops! No, I didn’t mean that. Erase that from your mind right now. We were having a friend dilemma! Now was not the right time to be thinking about how toned Roxas was, how pretty his eyes were, or how much I wanted to run my hands through his hair.

“How can you be so smart, and _such_ an idiot?”

“Excuse me?” I replied, because damn, this boy was unexpected. How was I supposed to reply to that?

He sat next to me on the barricade towards the edge of the building, placing his elbows at his knees as he looked up to the sky. “Why’d you run out on me like that?”

I shrugged, thinking it would be better to get straight to it instead of beating around the bush, “I was embarrassed. You like Xion, I should learn to accept that.”

“I’m not saying you’d be horrible girlfriend material Nam,” he murmured, hitting me in a sore spot once again. Anger welled up in my heart as my eyebrows furrowed, turning to Roxas with a narrow-eyed gaze.

“Well then what _are_ you saying Roxas?” I snapped, because the emotion was starting to bubble over my carefully kept confines. Normally… normally I was composed, but issues involving Roxas always broke my emotional barrier. He made me lie, when I was always so confident about telling the truth. Lies dig me into the dirt and now I have nowhere else to go, so now I have to fight back. “Just _what_ is it about me that makes me so unlikable?”

“Nam-“ he said, but I wasn’t taking any of it. Nosiree. I was going to vent on him.

“Am I not pretty enough? Am I too stupid? Too smart? Is my cup-size too small? Do I have bad breath? Are you turned off by the fact that I used to be attracted to your brother? Are you annoyed that I’ve been hanging out with Vanitas as of late?”

“Nami!” he replied in aggravation, “None of those are true…. Well, except the Vanitas one… but it’s just a little bit. Where did you get all of these assumptions?”

“It’s because I’m trying to figure out _why_ Roxas? Why am I off limits?!” before I knew it, I was shouting, standing up and yelling at him. He got up so that he was of equal height (not really, the damn boy is taller than me now) and I could yell into his face-erm collar bone. “Because I _know_ I could make a better girlfriend than Xion! I could make you happier.”

“I know you could, but-“

“But _what?_ ” my tone was going a little high. “I’ve known you since we were kids. I know your favourite video games, your favourite food, your favourite sport, your favourite movie. I know your favourite month is autumn because you like wearing scarves, but you’re not freezing your butt off. I know you keep a packet of gingerbread men underneath your pillow because you’re just weird like that. I know that secretly, your favourite genre of music is jazz, but you’re afraid people are gonna think you’re old school for liking such a classy style. I know that you snore in your sleep, but it’s only light enough to be kitten soft, and you’ll deny anyone that says it. Your least favourite subject is geography, and you used to have a _huge_ crush on Axel. Don’t deny it, I’m not an idiot.

“I know you… I could make you happy… So what does Xion have that I don’t?”

“Naminé…” he murmured, stepping forward and wrapping me in a comfortable hug. What was _wrong_ with me? Why did I just reveal my stalker tendencies to him? “Why are you acting like this… you couldn’t possibly be jealous… could you?”

“No!” I lied. “I just wanted to know what would make me such a bad girlfriend.”

He rolled his eyes, “You idiotic girl,” he flicked my forehead, making me pout, “The only reason you’d be a bad girlfriend for _me_ is because you’re my _best friend_. Girlfriends come and go, but friend’s stay forever. If it didn’t work out, and you decided to leave me, I don’t know what I’d do… I’d be totally _lost_ without you, Naminé.

“One day, Xion might leave, and it’s gonna hurt for a while, but I’ll get over it. If I ever lost you… then my life wouldn’t be worth living.”

I must not cry. Dammit. I must not cry.

“Roxas!” I whined, wiping my eyes. He laughed and patted my back. “I haven’t cried like this since we watched Bambi last week.”

“Now, do you understand why I said that?”

“Yes, dammit! Stop making me feel guilty.”

“Do you need another hug?”

“No,” I spluttered, pushing him away and regaining composure, “touchy-feely time is over. I feel like an hormonal teenage girl, let’s go play something where I can shoot stuff.”

He laughed and kissed the top of my forehead.

“We cool now?”

“Like ice.”


	24. Hesitance

Roxas and Axel were sitting on the drama stage, rehearsing lines while the backstage crew toiled over the props for Romeo and Juliet.

“I reckon it would have been easier to do something like _Hamlet_. Or _Macbeth_. Or maybe _Much Ado About Nothing_. I mean, there are a million Shakespeare productions, why do we have to do this one?”

“Dude, _Much Ado About Nothing_ is a comedy.”

_“Taming of the Shrew?”_

“Is also a comedy.”

“I don’t care. I’d have preferred anything over this one. Most of the girls that want the part don’t know their lines, and the ones that do are off limits.”

“Oh?”

“There’s Aerith. She’d make a wonderful Juliet. She loves the role and everything, but if she lands the part, guess who’s gonna come after me with a buster sword?”

“Zack is a little overprotective, isn’t he?”

“And what about Tifa?”

“Isn’t she dating Reno?”

“I’m not sure. Well, she could have anyone. If she’s Juliet, half of the men in the school are gonna ring my neck.”

“Yuna?”

“Tidus, you idiot. One finger on her and I can guarantee a blitzball in my face every time we play dodge ball, and let me just say that those things are _way_ harder than what we use to play dodge ball.”

“Well man, it looks like you’re in a predicament.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“The only girl left is…”

“Naminé.”

“I was going to say Xion.”

“What?”

“Well, Naminé’s off limits. You said so yourself. I’m surprised you even brought her up.” Axel gave Roxas a lewd glance and the blond pushed him off the stage.

“Xion doesn’t know her lines, properly.”

“Some friend you are.”

“The very best!” he grinned.

**Believe Me, I’m Lying**

_Hesitance_

“The Bake Sale is today. They shut down the cafeteria just so that the committee would actually have a chance. Actually, aren’t you supposed to be on that?” Axel asked, making Roxas face-palm himself.

“Gotta go!”

Sprinting down the Hall, and getting the evil eyes from Professor Lexaeus, he was just at the cafeteria when he bumped into Naminé and Tidus, who were handling a large sack of self-raising flour.

“Here, let me help with that,” he said, grabbing the side of the flour and hauling it into the kitchens.

“About time you showed up.”

“Up yours.”

“I’d rather not catch anything you’ve got.”

“Like _what?!_ ” he replied indignantly.

“Like syphilis, or chlamydia,” she teased, winking and floating to the other end of the kitchen. How can she rattle off sexual diseases and still look hot?

“Man,” Tidus’s smile was wide as he waved a hand in front of Roxas’ eyes, snapping his vision, “You look star-struck. Does that mean there’s actually some truth behind the rumours that are circulating around?”

“Do you mean the one about Xigbar selling gummi drugs in the bathroom, or about Saïx getting it on with Mansex in the Principal’s office?”

Tidus gave him a disgusted look and shuttered, completely dropping the sack of flour. “Yuck! Roxas, _really?_ ”

“Dude, they don’t call him _‘headmaster’_ for nothing.”

“Eww!” Tidus smirked and gave him a high five for being so gross, getting power-white over their hands in the impact. Roxas was making a spectacle in the kitchen, of course people were looking at him. “How do Naminé and Axel deal with you?”

“Well, normally I charge around one hundred money for oral, but the gummi drugs that Xigbar sells are also worthy currency as well. What, you interested?” he joked, earning another round of laughter before everyone set back to work.

“You’re insane.”

“You’re outsane.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Not in your conformity bending sense of logic.”

“Roxas,” Naminé said from the other end of the kitchen, “stop scarring people and come over here.”

“Yes, _mother,_ ” he whined. “You know, I wasn’t forced into being head boy so that we could make cupcakes.”

“You know that joke that you made about Mansex could _easily_ apply to you as well,” she said, just throwing the information out there.

“It applies to _you_ too!”

“True enough, but it isn’t that scandalous when it’s a girl.”

“Speaking of scandalous girls,” the blond narrowed her eyes, nodding her head over her shoulder as she abandoned the cake mix that she was stirring. Roxas turned to look around and saw Xion approaching them, looking haughty as ever. Really angry too.

“Hey, Xi,” Roxas smiled, waving.

“Don’t you ‘Xi’ me!” she growled, slapping his hand away and making her presence known. “Why would you _kiss_ her?”

“Stage kiss,” he shrugged.

“If it was just a stage kiss, then why would you disappear for days afterward? I came to see you at Leon’s house, but he wouldn’t let me in.”

“Well, you know Leon,” he laughed, but she wasn’t as amused as Naminé was who was snickering as she went back to her cake mix. “Xion, it wasn’t really a big deal.”

“How is it _not_ a big deal? You _kissed_ her!”

“Yeah? And? Xion, I’m going to have to kiss anyone that plays the role of Juliet.”

“So… what does this mean we are?”

“I dunno. Did we break up?”

Naminé snorted and Roxas rolled his eyes, dipping a finger in the cake mix and smearing it across her cheek, “Be quiet, Nam.”

She stuck her tongue out and continued to work in silence, but Xion hadn’t missed the exchange. “Yes! I expect you to bow on your knees and beg for forgiveness!”

Naminé couldn’t stay quiet that time, she turned around and rolled her eyes, “Honestly, Xion? You’re acting like a stuck up bitch. Roxas didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That’s easy for you to say! He kissed you!” she hollered, and it was then that Roxas noticed that the entire kitchen was watching them.

“If you had one _shred_ of acting talent, with _any_ knowledge of Shakespeare instead of spending your English lessons powdering your nose, then you could have been on the stage instead of me. Any respectable girl could have been up there kissing your… I don’t know what Roxas is to you now, but you definitely _don’t_ deserve him!”

“And I suppose _you_ do?” Xion snarled, blue eyes flashing.

“Well, I’d definitely be better for him than you would.”

“Why don’t we let Roxas decide?”

The blond furrowed his eyebrows, suddenly being in charge of this decision was a little unnerving. But… he knew his answer already… in the right context…

Naminé would understand wouldn’t she?

“Roxas?” Xion asked, “Who would make a better girlfriend?”

“Xion,” he answered.

“Oh…” Naminé replied in… was it disappointment? Did that make sense? Did I look like that when she crushed my confession? I felt kind of happy, and kind of… guilty. “Excuse me, I need to…” She ran out of the room, the rest of the kitchen people watching her go silently.

Suddenly, Roxas realised that Naminé had taken it the wrong way, which was weird because Naminé never _misunderstood_ him! It… it couldn’t have been that their emotions were getting in the way of their silent communication, could it?

Either way, when Xion hugged him the only thing he could do, was stare as Naminé walked away.


	25. Temptation

Roxas sighed as he thumbed through the money the event committee had come up with for the bake sale. Out of the two heads, the skater was the only one that was actually _at_ the bake sale. Naminé was running off being a _girl_ about certain matters. But it was okay now. They were both cool. Everything returned to normal.

Naminé and Roxas were ‘platonic’ friends. Their emotions weren’t getting the better of them. Xion was once again Roxas’ girlfriend.

Well, the blond boy hadn’t really established that, but he couldn’t find the effort to _bother_ changing Xion’s claims. As long as he was fine with Naminé, he could work on Xion at a later date.

“Dammit… what was the next fund raiser idea again?” he rolled his neck, waiting for the satisfying pops in the joins before placing the money in a tin.

“Car wash,” Olette, who also happened to be on the event committee answered. She was giving him a rather lewd look as she said it. It made her uncomfortable, that was until he realised why.

Car wash. That meant getting wet. The only logical thing to do was to wear…

Swim suits.

_Oh fuck._

Damn his stupid teenage hormones.

**Believe Me, I’m Lying**

_Temptation_

“You’re right, maybe I should consider turning bi.”

“You _are_ bi, you silly goose,” Naminé quipped as she latched onto his wrist and dragged him into the mall. “All throughout seventh grade you went through a phase when you wanted to spend more time with Axel than me.”

“Well, that could simply be because you were starting to grow _boobs_ Naminé. I didn’t want to sit around and hear you complain that the wires were uncomfortable. By eighth grade, I was sure you’d be over your first bra stage, but apparently they’re not done growing yet,” he leered cheekily, laughing when she covered her chest and elbowed him in the wrist.

“You hardly have any right to make fun of my cup size in comparison to your non-existent manhood.”

“Are we really going to go there, Nam? In the middle of a shopping centre?”

“We’ve done worse before. Now come on, I hear they’re having a discount on bikini’s in City Beach. We haven’t swam in ages, so we both need new stuff.”

“I don’t,” he scoffed, “my old swimmers are fine.”

“Oh?” she smirked, “Good, you can just hold my stuff like a good little slave, while I try stuff on.”

He rolled his eyes, but he put up with it. While she was shopping for clothes, dragging him along, she’d normally let him stay in the music store a little longer than she liked. There was no point punishing her in video game stores because they both really loved those. Art stores didn’t work either because Roxas dabbled with it in his spare time. They’d both adopted small traits from each other over the years.

She flew into city beach, picking up five bikinis before Roxas could even step into the store, and soon she was dragging him the changing rooms. They were the annoying ones that didn’t have separate mirrors inside, so Naminé would have to come out to inspect her reflection. He knew her style; the little blond normally wore shorts over her bottoms, but she normally covered the top half of her swimsuit with a loose shirt, often one that draped over her smooth shoulders.

He sat down and leant against the mirror that was facing the changing rooms, carrying her stupid purse and shuffling through the contents. He was having a conversation with her while she changed, trying not to imagine her as almost naked with only a wooden door blocking his view.

“I’m helping myself to your gum,” he told her, ignoring her protest. “Grape. How _highly_ predictable of you, Naminé.”

“Shut up. I know you’re addicted to watermelon, there should be some in there too.”

“I found it, and I’m helping myself to that too,” he replied, placing another stick in his mouth.

“You pig! How many pieces did you take?” he listened to the absent sound of coats hangers clanging.

“Like, four. Do you know how hard it is to make bubbles without at least four pieces?”

“You’re terrible…” she sighed and he started moving through her purse again, being really embarrassing about it.

“Uh, lesse, cell phone, Hello Kitty pens, _tampons._ ” She swore he was saying it loud enough for the entire store to hear. A few male employees that were working near the change rooms section laughed at the comment. 

“Roxas, shut up!”

He snickered quietly, but the sound died on his lips when Naminé came out of the room. She was wearing a white ensemble, the white decorated with gold hoops that came between her breasts and held the strings of her top together. There were gold hoops on her hips too; pulling together fabric that was covered up by short-shorts that were definitely far too short. Naminé looked like a goddess with her long golden locks and her bright blue eyes, absolutely flawless skin and incredible body. Roxas could feel his heart increase speed as he took in the sight of his best friend…

Haha…

Naminé had worn bikini’s before, but she’d always covered them up with a t-shirt that obscured the view. Now it was just skin, skin and more skin.

Roxas gulped and reminded himself to breath.

“What do you think of this one, Rox?”

“Um… I-it’s okay, I guess.”

She rolled her eyes, “Stupid boys…” she muttered before heading back inside.

The guys that were laughing at Roxas earlier still had their mouths hanging open, obviously still trying to get over Naminé and her stunning swim wear.

“Man, she was _hot!_ I’d tap that.”

Roxas felt a surge of anger ripple through him and he sent a venomous growl at the two males who immediately went back to their work.

“Too bad man, it looks like she’s taken.”

If Naminé was out of the changing rooms, he would have corrected them, but just because she wasn’t, he would indulge himself of this luxury.


End file.
